Dallas native cancer patient loses SSI benefits after government questions her U.S. citizenship

Texas born woman loses benefits, citizenship questioned

A 59-year-old Dallas woman battling cancer and kidney disease is fighting to restore her benefits after the Social Security Administration abruptly halted them, claiming she is not a legal resident despite her lifelong U.S. citizenship

DALLAS - A Dallas woman, who has received Supplemental Security Income for years due to her severe medical conditions, says her benefits were stopped after the federal government questioned her legal status. 

Despite the woman insisting that she had never lived outside Dallas County.

Lifelong U.S. resident stripped of benefits

What we know:

59-year-old Ramona Rakestraw said she has relied on Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, as her sole source of income while battling kidney disease and cancer. She tells FOX 4 that her payments stopped in October after she was told her immigration status was under review.

Rakestraw said she was born in 1966 at Parkland Hospital in Dallas and has never lived outside Dallas County nor has she traveled outside the United States.

Kidney disease first sent Rakestraw to dialysis at age 28. 

She later received a transplant, but about 30 years later she returned to dialysis and received a cancer diagnosis in 2024. 

Loss of SSI benefits over ‘citizenship dispute'

Throughout her illnesses, she said she received SSI benefits and was enrolled in Medicare Part B. Both her SSI payments and Medicare Part B coverage were halted for a period last year, she said. 

Her Medicare coverage was later restored, but her SSI payments were not.

What they're saying:

When asked her response whenever the immigration matter was brought to her attention, Rakestraw told FOX 4, "They told me my immigrant status was being questioned, and so I said, ‘I’m not an immigrant.’"

Rakestraw said she took her identification and birth certificate to her local Social Security office in an effort to resolve the issue.

"That’s my income, my whole income," she said.

Claims Rakestraw is "not lawfully present"

Dig deeper:

She later received a letter from the Social Security Administration stating: 

"We cannot pay you benefits because you are not lawfully present in the U.S."

Appeal for social security income

The Social Security Administration allows recipients to appeal benefit denials or suspensions. Individuals have 60 days to request an appeal and must update their status to prove citizenship. The case is then reviewed by someone other than the person who made the initial decision.

What's next:

Rakestraw said she has filed an appeal and completed the required paperwork.

"I am appealing." When sked what would happen if the appeal is denied, she said, "I don’t know. I have to just take it a day at a time."