The Trump Administration continues its efforts to punish vulnerable children of immigrants and roll back regulations that prevent discrimination, this time through new rules at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD recently proposed new rules that would to evict “mixed status” families that include citizens and undocumented immigrants from public and subsidized housing. The proposal could force over 100,000 people – including over 50,000 children who are US citizens or legal permanent residents – out of housing and into the streets.
By HUD’s own admission, this proposal would result in no additional benefit to other families on waiting lists for subsidized or public housing.
To be clear: undocumented immigrants do not currently receive any federal housing subsidies. “Mixed-status” households are where “assisted-living eligible” family members may live in a home with undocumented immigrant family members – but the rents for the family strictly prorated to ensure that none of the subsidy assists with the undocumented immigrant’s portion of the rent. As a result, mixed-status households pay significantly higher rents than do similarly situated households who are not mixed-status.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition and the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) are leading opposition to this harmful and cruel proposal and have developed advocacy tools. Together, NLIHC and NHLP launched a new website, www.Keep-Families-Together.org, where you can find fact sheets and other resources (including talking points and social media images), read the latest news, and submit your own comments directly to HUD.
Equal Access Rule: Another recently unveiled HUD rule reverse protections against discrimination LGBTQ people in housing and homeless programs.
The Equal Access to Housing Rule was designed to give service providers the information they need to serve transgender people, and were intended to provide minimum protections for LGBTQ people in need. (NLIHC information)
This rule follows a familiar pattern of targeting the most vulnerable people; LGBTQ youth are more than twice as likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers, and one in five transgender people will experience homelessness at some point in their lifetime. It is unconscionable that HUD would initiate policies that will lead to higher rates of homelessness.
