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"More than 60 years after moving to the U.S., Florida man discovers he’s not here legally"
Revelation came when Social Security denied him benefits
Posted 8:48 AM, May 07, 2024 |last updated 5:19 AM, May 08, 2024
By: Katie LaGrone
Outside Jimmy Klass’s mobile home in Clearwater, symbols of American pride hang
not just front and center but also on the side and back of his home. America is,
after all, the only home this 66-year-old has ever known.
“I moved to the US in 1959. I’ve been here for 64 years,” he recently told us.
But after more than half a century in the U.S., where he’s lived, worked, gone
to school, got married, had kids, paid his taxes, and even voted, Klass said in 2020 he discovered he’s not a U.S. citizen.
“I just was, like, blindsided,” he said about the revelation.
Klass said it all came to light after he applied for the Social Security retirement benefits he had paid into his entire working life.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “One month, they told me I should expect
my first check on the second Wednesday of 2020. But instead, I get a letter stating that I haven't proven to them that I’m here legally,” he said.
Klass was born in Canada, his mom was Canadian, but his father was American, born and raised in New York. Klass said his family moved to the U.S. when he was
two and stayed here. As Klass got older, he assumed he, too, was an American, a dual citizen.
He laid out dozens of documents from his past, along with other documents and pictures that offer a glimpse into the deep roots he formed in the U.S. over his
lifetime.
“You know you're old when the old driver's licenses were paper,” he chuckled as
he showed us old driver's licenses he had been issued in the U.S.
Klass said he was never questioned about his citizenship status - not when he got his Social Security card, Driver’s license, or voter registration card.
“I’ve been voting for over 40 years. I guess I’m in a lot of trouble,” he said
with a sarcastic laugh.
By voting as a non-U.S citizen, Klass broke federal law each time he voted in an
American election.
Klass said his citizenship status was also never questioned when he applied for and was approved to serve as a Marine for the U.S. military (he didn’t end up serving due to getting a union job, he said). At one point in his life, he was even approved to work for the New Jersey State Police.
“The only thing they asked me for was my social security card and my driver's license,” he said.
After learning he wasn’t really a U.S. citizen, Klass formally applied for status but was denied.
U.S. Customs & Immigration Services wouldn’t share details when we contacted them about Klass’ case. In an email, a spokesperson stated that they don’t talk
about individual cases.
But in a 2022 denial letter, the agency stated Klass didn’t provide enough evidence to prove his father lived in the U.S. for 10 years before Klass was born, which is a requirement for a child seeking citizenship through a parent.
https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/more-than-60-years-after-moving-to-the-u-s-florida-man-discovers-hes-not-here-legally
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