Retirement is supposed to be a time to kick back and enjoy life.
One man was prepared to do that until his dream was shattered.
And a Florida man applying for Social Security discovered this awful secret about his life.
Florida man discovers he is not an American citizen when applying for Social Security
A 66-year-old Florida man was getting ready to enjoy the good life in retirement when he found out that he was not an American citizen when he applied for Social Security.
The Social Security Administration sent Jimmy Klass a letter in 2020 claiming that he needed to prove his citizenship.
Klass was shocked because he had lived in the United States nearly his entire life.
His mother was from Canada and his paternal grandparents were German citizens.
Klass’ dad had a birth certificate that said he was a natural-born American citizen.
He thought he got his American citizenship from his dad.
“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 said referencing the theme song to the TV show 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 added.
He said that he passed the background checks to enlist in the Marines and become a police officer.
“I was accepted, but I never took the jobs because I was newly married, had a kid on the way, just bought a house…,” Klass recalled.
Klass said that he had a Social Security card, a driver’s license, and voted in elections for decades without any issues.
The 66-year-old Florida resident never had any issues living his life like a normal American citizen.
“I mean, I was accepted everything: photo ID card, I voted here,” Klass said.
He voted in many elections without ever having any issues even though it is a federal crime.
“Nobody showed up at my door to arrest me yet,” Klass said. “But yeah, technically, if you vote, and you’re illegal — it’s federal charges.”
The nightmare begins with the Social Security office
“Never, ever, ever came about where I was here illegally, even though Social Security says I didn’t prove it to them,” Klass stated. “They gave me my Medicare for over a year and a half.”
Now he is left trying to navigate the bureaucracy of multiple countries to get his citizenship situation straightened out.
The Canadian Consulate, his mother’s native country, was not able to help.
He is working with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to prove that’s he’s been living in the United States for more than 60 years.
“I’ve sent all that stuff to USCIS, and they still denied me,” Klass said.
The situation is forcing him to burn through his savings.
“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,” Klass explained.
Now he must go back to work while he deals with the system.
Jimmy Klass’ retirement dreams turned into a nightmare thanks to one letter from Social Security.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
