Speech #1140085641

That means this is now spreading through wordofmouth. So you live in Cuba. you know someone who left for the United States. they qualified for these benefits. and they start coming back and bringing the money with them or sending it back to their relatives. and word gets around. That is why it is not a surprise to read in this article: Outside welfare offices in Hialeah. the Sun Sentinel found Cuban immigrants who had arrived as recently as three days earlier. applying for benefits. They said family and friends told them about the aid before they left Cuba. "Back in the 60s. when you came in. they told you the factory that was hiring." said Nidia Diaz of Miami. a former bail bondswoman who was born in Cuba. "Now they tell you the closest Department of Children and Families [office] so you can go and apply." This is a quote from another bail bondswoman: Miami bail bondswoman Barbara Pozo said many of her Cuban clients talk openly about living in Cuba and collecting monthly disability checks. courtesy of U.S. taxpayers. "They just come here to pick up the money." Pozo said. "They pretend theyre disabled. They just pretend theyre crazy." SSI payments. for those who cannot work due to mental or physical disabilities. go up to $733 a month for an individual. Most other new immigrants are ineligible until they become U.S. citizens. Some Cubans try to build a case for SSI by claiming trauma from their life under an oppressive government or the 90mile crossing to Florida. Diaz. the former bondswoman. said she has heard Cuban clients talk about qualifying: "Tell them that you have emotional problems.