A 66-year-old Florida man gearing up for retirement was stunned to discover he’s not a US citizen when applying for Social Security payments, despite having lived in America since he was a toddler and voting in numerous federal elections for the last six decades.
Jimmy Klass said he was expecting to receive a letter from the Social Security Administration in 2020 telling him when he could expect to start raking in his well-earned benefits after decades of work, but instead was informed his money was “frozen,” News 6 Click Orlando reported.
“I got a notification that it was frozen because I hadn’t proven to them that I was here legally. That was their determination,” he explained.
Klass’ mother was a Canadian, and his paternal grandparents hailed from Germany.
But what always reassured him that he was a US citizen was that his father was a natural-born American.
Klass, who was brought to the US when he was 2 years old in the 1960s, for decades figured that he had been granted citizenship through his father.
“My dad’s roots were in Brooklyn, New York … And two years into my existence, they decided to load up the truck and move to Beverly, so to speak,” Klass told the outlet, referencing a line from the theme song of the ’60s TV classic “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
“We moved to Tennessee Avenue in Long Island, to be more specific. And we moved into the house next to my grandparents.”
Klass also explained that years ago he was granted eligibility to join the Marine Corps and even accepted to become a police officer — both of which run vigorous background checks on applicants — but no discrepancies over his citizenship arose.
“I was accepted, but I never took the jobs because I was newly married, had a kid on the way, just bought a house…,” he said.
Klass, who’s a registered voter with a Social Security card and valid driver’s license, instead took a union job to support his family and “acted like a regular citizen” since he had no reason to think otherwise.
“I mean, I was accepted everything: photo ID card, I voted here,” he said.
“Never, ever, ever came about where I was here illegally, even though Social Security says I didn’t prove it to them. They gave me my Medicare for over a year and a half.”
The 66-year-old even shared that he’s voted in multiple elections, which is a federal crime, according to the FBI.
“Nobody showed up at my door to arrest me yet,” Klass joked. “But yeah, technically, if you vote, and you’re illegal — it’s federal charges.”
Klass has now been left with no choice but to go on the defense with US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to fix the problem — sending the agency multiple documents proving he’s been living in the US for over 60 years as a full citizen.
“I’ve sent all that stuff to USCIS and they still denied me,” Klass said.
He’s even visited the Canadian Consulate in Miami in hopes that it would help clarify things — but to no avail.
Even worse, the retiree has been using his savings to try to clear up the issue.
“I’ve been spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars to try to get my money that I paid into Social Security my entire life,” he said.
“I even said to them, ‘Well, if you’re not gonna pay me monthly, give me everything that I paid with interest, and we’ll call it a day’ and they go, ‘Oh, we can’t do that, either.’ I said, ‘Well, what can you do?’”
Klass said he had been forced to return to work due to the financial burden.
He’s even launched a GoFundMe to raise money to hire an attorney and a genealogist — a person who traces or studies lines of family descent — to fight the USCIS on giving him his Social Security benefits.
A child born abroad automatically becomes a US citizen if at least one parent is an American citizen, the child is under 18, a lawful permanent resident, and residing in the US under the legal and physical custody of the US citizen parent, according to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.
Unfortunately for Klass, this law was not in effect when he moved to America as a 2-year-old.
USCIS said in a statement to News 6 Click Orlando that it is unable to discuss the matter “due to privacy considerations.”
“As a matter of practice, and due to privacy considerations, USCIS does not comment on individual immigration cases, and the agency does not share, confirm, or deny immigration information about specific individuals. We adjudicate each application on a case-by-case basis to determine if it meets all standards required under the law. Applicants receive a written decision in the mail, which fully explains our action and lists any appeal rights.”
This is total bull. This man should get whatever is coming to him. Biden supports the illegals to no end just to get their votes. Now this man is being singled out for what? He paid taxes and did everything he was supposed to do. Just leave him the hell alone. These corrupt people will do anything to harm a United States Citizen when our tax dollar is being used for Illegals coming across our border by the millions. Think again you bunch of corrupt zombies.
Mr. Klass, I have the answer for you. Fly to Mexico, wade across the Rio Grande, push over some Texas National Guardsmen trying to keep you out, and then you’ll be good to vote, receive Social Security and all the privileges of being an American citizen without proving anything.
It’s the damn government’s fault right from the start. They evidently issued him a social security card without checking his birth certificate, or if they did check it, they determined that he was indeed a citizen and issued him the card. So he has been dutifully paying into the system for years, they took his money every pay period with no problem. So now they need to fork over his social security benefits since if anyone is at fault here, they are. This is total bs.They also allowed him to vote in every election, evidently without checking his credentials. So the government is again at fault there. Don’t even try to lay the blame on this individual. This needs to be on the national news so everyone can see how screwed up this government is.
What an absolute mess these Government Agencies have become. He should be thankful that he didn’t learn this during the COVID lockdowns – as that is when I had to go to battle with them. I spent 8 hrs every single day calling the 1-800 Social Security Phone Number because ALL of their offices were closed for 2020, 2021, 2022 and some of 2023 They stated they would be re-opening in April of 2022, but that didn’t quite happen. They dragged their feet longer.
. When you call in on those numbers, you randomly got whomever was next in the que to pick up and they ALL were working from home in GA, NM, CA, KY, OH, etc.. They could tell you to gather A, B & C and call back when you had that – but you could NEVER get that SAME person again. So you started over from scratch once again. I finally called my State Elected Representative who had a Supervisor Level type person call me directly. THere was NO reason why they couldn’t have had 1/3 of the staff in the office (still would leave >6′ between them) and 1000’s of us were in Emergent Situations that warranted Top Tier and QUICK resolutions. I was paying COBRA $1700/mo for >7 months so nearly 12K out of pocket (instead of $174/mo) because that Govt Agency dragged their feet to re-open and take care of the Elderly AND Disabled during COVID.
I also learned that whomever you speak with at any Social Security Office via phone; they are PERMITTED to provide the US Citizens with BOGUS names. I talked with a helpful lady in North Carolina who took the time, called up my account on her computer and as she said “You spoke with Anthony at 11 am yesterday (I had written William in my note) and she said you spoke with Carol at 215pm (I had in my record Barbara) and that continued on for 7 months worths of dates & names I provided her; she then provided me with their REAL Name. They have a Policy that permits them to give anyone who calls a FAKE name “for their safety & privacy”. So there is NO Accountability if you file a Complaint or Grievance, because you truly don’t know WHO was the REAL persons’ name because they give FAKE names out – shouldn’t be tolerated or permitted EVER!
Federal Law states that NO US Citizen is required to even keep their Income Taxe paperwork & supporting documents for longer than 10 years – but Lord forbid IF you have an issue the Social Security Representative wanted me to gather ALL of my paychecks that would prove I was provided Health Insurance thru my Employer and if I had to contribute monthly. WHO keeps 50+ years worth of paystubs? IF they are permitted to request such a thing; then they need to change the Federal Law of 10 years Max and change it. The SS Administration CREATES more problems than they solve IMO.
How could this mans’ situation NOT be discovered decades ago. When his Employer was withholding all of the taxes for his Social Security since he began working decades ago – How did he have a Social Security Card and SS Number and they accepted every dollar submitted on his behalf but now tell him “You’re not a citizen”. Shouldn’t one of their many software programs, changes to new systems & processes when down by paper, etc have CAUGHT that OOPSIE?
I think we can reduce every Govt Agency employee #’s without hesitation. Remember when they told us going all computerized would create such efficiencies throughout? Then how is it that we have 3x as many govt employees yet it’s all computerized and no one is doing, moving, reading, typing, entering, etc any of that information by hand – – no one is at a typewriter doing it, no one is filling out forms in triplicate and then another entire staff to FILE all of the papers in file cabinets….. They have to be some of the laziest EMPLOYEES in America = Govt Employees and so very well compensated.
President Trump can’t come soon enough. I hope this man gets Senators Rick Scott & Marco Rubio involved, Rep Matt Gaetz and whomever else is his District House Representative (Gus Bilirakis I looked online). They can have their vast staff work on THAT mess for him, they have Direct Dial Phone Numbers as when we peons call the 1-800 # I spent over 2 hrs just sitting on hold before I was connected to a human being. It took me MONTHS and in the meantime, I was paying COBRA Insurance at $1700/month to UnitedHealthcare – nearly 12K out of pocket and Social Security didn’t care one bit.
I’m also in Gus Bilirakis “Zone” for representation. I hope this man reads the comments and can send a message back to me; as I can provide him with the name(s) of those that helped me in our Florida Govt that solved my problem in an expedited fashion and within 3 weeks of their involvement; my matter was solved….took me >6 months at 8hrs every single day on the 1-800# and POOF, get them involved and voila. It was the 1st time I had to ask for their help and I would recommend using our Elected Reps most definitely. They have FT staff members throughout all of their offices in the State plus Washington, DC office that can get to the bottom and FIGHT for us – if asked. Lesson Learned!