SummerSnow

SummerSnow's Journal

April 19, 2019

Trump proposal would evict undocumented immigrants from public housing

By Tracy Jan
April 18 2019/ Washington Post

The Trump administration is proposing to tighten regulations to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing federally subsidized housing, a move that low-income housing advocates fear will keep immigrants who are legally entitled to such benefits from receiving help.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Thursday that it plans to strengthen the verification process for public housing beneficiaries.

“We need to make certain our scarce public resources help those who are legally entitled to it,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in a statement. “Given the overwhelming demand for our programs, fairness requires that we devote ourselves to legal residents who have been waiting, some for many years, for access to affordable housing.”

Current rules already bar undocumented immigrants from receiving federal housing subsidies but allow families of mixed-immigration status to live in public housing as long as one person is eligible. The eligible person could be a child born in the U.S. In addition to citizens, lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylum seekers are also eligible for housing assistance

HUD estimates that approximately 32,000 households receiving federal housing assistance are headed by individuals who are not legal U.S. residents. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that between 22,000 and 25,000 households receiving subsidized housing contain non-eligible family members; the majority of such households are in California, Texas and New York.

Federal housing subsidies are pro-rated to account for only legally eligible residents, said Diane Yentel, president and chief executive of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. As a result, she said, many mixed-status families pay rents that are nearly market rate because they receive lower subsidies than low-income families in which everyone is a U.S. citizen.

Under current regulations, residents in subsidized housing can declare themselves “ineligible” and avoid revealing their immigration status. The Trump administration said it wants to close that “loophole” and eventually evict from public housing anyone who is not a lawful resident.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/04/18/trump-proposal-would-evict-undocumented-immigrants-public-housing/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.75669284c18b

*no wonder he wants the census questions to include whether you are a citizen or not. Also, this in direct conflict with his wanting to send asylum seekers to sanctuary cities but then deny them housing. There is a method to his madness.