U.S. paid former Nazis $20 million in benefits, report says

A federal investigation reportedly shows the U.S. government paid $20.2 million in Social Security benefits to more than 130 residents linked to Nazi war crimes, The New York Times reports. The payments, much higher than previously thought, were doled out over more than 50 years, with some as recent as last year.

Anonymous officials familiar with the report told the Times that authorities couldn't stop people with Nazi ties from getting benefits unless those individuals were deported. Roughly a quarter of the money went to more than three dozen ex-Nazis who were eventually deported. The Social Security Administration's inspector general is expected to release the report this week.

After an Associated Press investigation highlighted the money going to former Nazis, President Barack Obama signed the No Social Security for Nazis Act into law last December.

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