In 1988, Congress enacted legislation to revise section 202(n)(3) of the Social Security
Act to include deportation under paragraph 19 of section 241(a) of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (INA) (recodified as section 237(a)(4)(D) of the INA) as a basis
for termination of Social Security benefits. This deportation category pertains directly
to activities associated with Germany’s Nazi government or its allies during World
War II. Prior to the 1988 legislation, SSA terminated benefits of beneficiaries under
other offenses contained in the INA that resulted in deportation.
Effective November 10, 1988, the amendments to section 202(n)(3) prohibited payments
of retirement and disability benefits to beneficiaries placed under a final order
of deportation for participating in Nazi persecution. Benefits were not payable beginning
the month after the final order of deportation, whether or not the deportee left the
United States.