Residents of Puerto Rico and other territories are excluded from SSI and President Joe Biden says the Justice Department will defend a law keeping it that way even though he wants it changed.

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Residents of Puerto Rico and other territories are excluded from SSI and President Joe Biden says the Justice Department will defend a law keeping it that way even though he wants it changed.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice will defend a law that does not provide certain Social Security benefits to residents of Puerto Rico, even though President Joe Biden said this week the provision “is inconsistent with my administration’s policies and values.”

The Justice Department is set to file a brief about its position in a case now at the Supreme Court, which challenges the constitutionality of a provision that provides Supplemental Security Income for the elderly and individuals who are blind or have a disability — but not in Puerto Rico and most other territories.