New Mexicans share their fears about threats to Social Security

Source interviews respondents to a survey from U.S. Rep. Vasquez

This story was originally published at Source New Mexico, a NMPBS partner.

By Leah Romero, Source New Mexico

When Pat Serrault retired at 72, she thought her 58 years of hard work and paying into Social Security would mean she’d be set for her later years.

“It’s my money. It isn’t a whole lot in the scheme of things, but I earned it,” Serrault told Source in a written statement. “The system put it away for me and I would like to keep it so that I can remain independent for the time I have left.

In recent months, the Trump Administration has made cuts to Social Security Administration staff and department budgets, prompting concerns over timely receipt of payments and the possibility of reductions in payments.

Serrault, an 84-year-old Las Cruces resident, told Source NM that she is just one missed payment away from being unable to afford rent and other necessities.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen if they hit Social Security and they also hit Section 8 [housing]. I’m going to be on the street, unless there’s some kind of safety net that could be developed,” Serrault told Source in a phone interview.

Serrault added that after paying her bills, she is left with about $250 to $300 for food each month, if she’s “lucky.”

Many New Mexicans receiving social security benefits share these concerns, according to a survey conducted by Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez’s team. Out of the nearly 600 constituents who responded to the survey, about 87% expressed uneasiness.

Vasquez’s team shared respondents’ first names, ZIP codes and comments with Source, which then selected several people from the list for interview requests. Vasquez’s representatives provided Source’s email contact to those willing to talk.

Cinda Gillilan, 63, lives in Silver City and works as an administrator at an assisted living facility. Gillilan has multiple degrees and has spent the last decade working in social work, but due to limited pay, she and her partner have little in savings and no 401K.

She told Source that she and her partner plan to retire when they are 70 and live off of Social Security, but worries that changes and cuts to the Social Security Administration will leave them with very little.

“When we looked at the cost of living throughout the country, even here in New Mexico in Silver City, our rent has gone from $700 to $900 a month. And on Social Security, that would be a huge portion of one of our two checks,” Gillilan said. “We’re seriously considering leaving the country in 2032 when we’re both 70.”

She said they are looking at relocating to Costa Rica, Portugal, Italy or Malta, where their money from Social Security will go further than in the U.S. However, Gillilan told Source that she worries that in the next seven years “there won’t be a functional system by the time we’re ready to use it.”

She said she hears similar concerns in her work at the assisted living facility. One man is facing the possibility of losing Medicaid assistance and having to leave the facility.

“I think it’s incumbent upon the state to start thinking about what do we do if people start losing Social Security? What do we do if people lose their Medicaid benefits or their Medicare benefits? How do we respond?” Gillian said. “And I think they have to get ahead of that curve and get proactive.”

Like Gillilan is considering doing, Carolmarie Seager, 66, chose to retire and move out of the country. She moved to the United Kingdom in 2018 and now lives in a town in Wales, but still maintains a Las Cruces address.

“What did I leave behind? My five adult children, a granddaughter, and now a new grandson. I left behind friends, siblings, their families, my sweet mother, and much more,” Seager told Source NM in a written statement. “In addition to the political nightmare, I chose to leave the U.S. because NM was getting too hot to live in inexpensively, and I knew my medical care would become more expensive without my mild Multiple Sclerosis condition getting any worse.”

Seager said she lives on a combination of benefits that includes Social Security, and that her payment was “quite late this month with no explanation.” She said she wouldn’t be able to pay her living expenses if her Social Security payment was changed, and she wouldn’t be able to afford to move back to the U.S.

Alyna LaValley, 66, lives in Truth of Consequences with her husband. She told Source NM that they both live off of their social security benefits, as well as long-term disability.

LaValley’s concerns are compounded because she is a transgender woman and moved to New Mexico from Florida because the state was restricting transgender rights. The Trump administration has taken multiple steps in recent months to rescind rights and support for transgender people at the federal level, including denying new passports, restricting gender-affirming care and reinstating a ban on transgender people serving in the military.

LaValley told Source that she fears for her safety and worries about even leaving her house at times. And she added that if their benefits are cut in anyway, they will likely lose their house.

“We’ll be on the street,” she said. “There is no American dream. People can’t afford to buy houses. There’s no way to get ahead. It’s gone. And I feel bad for the world that my grandchildren are going to live in.”

This story was originally published at Source New Mexico, a NMPBS partner.