IN August 2022, Carter Widmor moved to Saipan from California with his girlfriend, an island native.
“I was born in an Amish community,” he said. “For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a segregated religious community in the Midwest USA. Most people would recognize them as ‘those people who dress like pioneers, drive horse-wagons, and don’t use electricity.’
“In the Amish community, most people never get a [Social Security Number or] SSN. They are born at home, not a hospital, and they don’t believe in paying into nor receiving from the Social Security system. Because they never need driver’s licenses, bank accounts, etc., most of them go their entire lives without even thinking about a SSN.
“When I got to Saipan, I had just finished years of cancer treatment in California. I tried to find a job, but it was impossible without a SSN so I went to apply at the MH building.”
He said at the Social Security office, he first spoke with a man who processed his (Widmor’s) application, “taking my driver’s license and my birth certificate.”
He said the employees “asked where I lived and when I said I rented from a police lieutenant…their attitude towards me changed immediately. I later found out they have issues with each other.”
He said several months passed before he “checked back in with the Social Security office,” which told him “they had sent my birth record to Ohio for verification.”
Widmor said after contacting the office in Ohio, “I was told they advised the Saipan office to approve my SSN.”
Widmor said he went to the Saipan office with his girlfriend who “understands local languages because she was raised here.”
He said she heard one of the employees “had said something like, ‘Ohio says they will help him. He should go back to Ohio where they help the rest of the white people.’ ”
Widmor said he submitted a discrimination complaint to the SS Administration’s Civil Rights office, “which has a 180 days turnaround.”
“However, to my surprise, the application pended for another 5 months. For a total of 7 months,” he said.
“At this point, my case started to raise eyebrows. People at [Nutrition Assistance Program office] were wondering how I could possibly have all of these documents, be receiving food stamps, etc. and somehow still no SSN. People at the bank who would cash my checks every week would ask me to make an account, but would be blown away when I tell them I don’t have a SSN. ‘Still nothing?’ they would say. ‘It’s been almost a year!’ ”
Widmor said at this point the office of U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan got involved. “A rep from [his] office was able to talk to some locals and at least got me a savings account (no debit card, though). However, the SSA would still not budge. Supposedly the manager…does not like me. During June this year, they finally denied my application.”
He said he appealed to the local SSA office, but he was “swiftly denied.”
According to Widmor, “the Honolulu office said they would investigate because they oversee Saipan; however, I still have yet to hear anything from them. They said their advice to me is ‘beg people for money so I can get a flight to Ohio.’ ”
Recently, he “finally got my letter back from the SSA Civil Rights, saying ‘we don’t have jurisdiction over your case because your allegations of racism are tied to the merits of your claim and sounds more like a customer service issue.’ Obviously, this is infuriating because I was told verbatim that I will not be helped because I am white/Amish….”
He added, “I really have no idea what to do. I have cancer and need my SSN. When they denied my SSN in June, I lost my job and my food stamps and have been struggling just to get by.”
He said at this point, “I feel I’ve tried everything. I tried to escalate it, I tried to contact the SSA in the state waiting up until 11pm so many countless nights, I tried going to the Civil Rights route, I tried getting the congressman involved. The SSA in Ohio has told me verbatim, ‘if you can find a way over here, we would approve it for you. I’m sorry but it seems like they don’t want to help you over there.’ However, I can’t save the money for a plane ticket without a job. I cannot have a job without a SSN. And after REAL ID laws change in 2025, I’ll effectively be stuck here forever because I would be unable to get a passport or a REAL ID.”
Variety was unable to get a comment from the SSA.
Widmor said he will “do whatever I can possibly do to spread the word. Even if nobody can help in terms of making the local [SSA] office do their job, maybe someone who sees this would be kind enough to help with travel costs to Ohio so I could get the SSN…. It would change my life. A real bank account, REAL ID, a passport, being able to file all these tax returns I’ve accumulated, being able to get cancer treatment, being able to have my food stamps back, being able to have credit so I don’t have to rent overpriced cars for the rest of my life, the list of ways this would change my life is endless.”
Widmor was featured by Variety in January 2023. He is a cancer survivor who taught people how to play guitar for a minimal fee and is also a professional web designer.
Carter Widmor
