Tens of thousands of people from households with mixed immigration status would lose access to public housing benefits under a proposal from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The proposed rule released by the agency Thursday would require verification of US citizenship or eligible immigration status for all household members to receive public assistance, regardless of age.
The rule would also prorate housing assistance until eligibility status of all family members is verified. Longstanding regulations allow for assistance to be prorated indefinitely for eligible family members. The proposal would deny benefits even to US citizens in mixed-status households.
The HUD proposal is part of larger efforts by the Trump administration to restrict benefits to immigrants and noncitizens, including healthcare and in-state tuition at state universities. The agency said the proposal aligns with a White House executive order issued last year targeting taxpayer benefits for immigrants and requiring tougher eligibility verification measures.
A similar proposal was released and ultimately withdrawn during the first Trump administration.
HUD acknowledged in the rule that the policy change would adversely affect tenants from mixed families, but said it “believes that this cost is adequately offset by the reallocation of HUD funds to the intended recipients.”
The proposal would mean more than 100,000 people are evicted from HUD housing, more than a third of them children, said Shamus Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project.
“Trump’s proposal runs contrary to federal law and is designed to instill fear and hardship on immigrant families. His administration deflects blame for the housing crisis onto immigrants so they can continue dismantling HUD’s hallmark and lifesaving housing programs,” Roller said in a statement.
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