A man made a shocking discovery about his US citizenship after living in the country for more than 60 years.
Jimmy Klass had been preparing for retirement, expecting a letter from the Social Security Administration confirming that he could begin withdrawing his retirement benefits.
But instead, the 66-year-old had quite a shock when he was informed that his account had been frozen as they couldn't establish that he was legally in the US.
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He told News 6 Click Orlando: “I got a notification that it was frozen because I hadn’t proven to them that I was here legally. That was their determination."
Klass has lived in the US since moving at the age of two, but wasn't born in the US.
His mom was Canadian and his paternal grandparents were from Germany.
However, Klass' father was a US citizen, and he had always assumed that this meant he was as well.
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He said: “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.”
And it seems Klass wasn't the only one who assumed he was a citizen, as during the 60 years he's lived in the States he has effectively lived as though he were one.
This included being granted eligibility to join the Marine Corps and being accepted to become a police officer, though he didn't take either job as he was newly married at the time instead taking a union job.
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He said: “I was accepted, but I never took the jobs because I was newly married, had a kid on the way, just bought a house…”
Not only that, but Klass has a social security card, a valid driver's license, and has voted in federal elections.
“I mean, I was accepted everything: photo ID card, I voted here,” said Klass.
And during all that time with all of the checks on that nothing ever came up. Klass even received Medicare for 18 months.
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So what happened?
Under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, a child born in another country with at least one US parent is automatically granted citizenship if they're under 18 and a lawful permanent resident in the US.
The problem is that this law was not in effect when the two-year-old Klass moved to the US in 1960s.
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Now, Klass is having to spend his retirement savings resolving the legal matter.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said in a statement to News 6 Click Orlando that they cannot discuss the case 'due to privacy considerations'.
UNILAD has reached out to USCIS for comment.
Featured Image Credit: ABC Action NewsTopics: Court, News, US News, Weird, Politics
Kit Roberts