CHICAGO – Attorney General Kwame Raoul today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter opposing a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed rule that would prohibit mixed-status families from living in public housing and receiving other federal housing assistance, including Housing Choice Vouchers (also known as Section 8) and project-based rental assistance. Mixed-status families are comprised of at least one eligible individual and one or more individuals who are ineligible due to their immigration status. The mixed-status families affected by HUD’s proposal include many legal immigrants who will be prohibited from living with eligible family members.
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Attorney General Raoul and the coalition urge HUD to withdraw the proposal because it jeopardizes families’ access to basic housing, increases burdens on state agencies, and undermines state laws and programs. HUD’s proposal would also affect families that include immigrants who are in the country legally.
“The Trump administration is once again attempting to illegally impose restrictions on the use of federal dollars that Congress has already appropriated,” Raoul said. “HUD’s proposed rule would leave families who are eligible to receive services faced with a cruel and impossible choice: Break up the family or lose housing access. The rule will increase rates of homelessness at a time of skyrocketing housing costs. I will continue to fight back when the president attempts to break the law at the expense of families in need.”
Currently, HUD allows mixed-eligibility families to live together in subsidized housing with a decrease in the housing subsidy to exclude ineligible individuals from assistance. Under the proposed rule, entire households would face eviction from subsidized housing if just one member of the household is found ineligible for aid because of their immigration status. The proposed rule would also:
- Exacerbate the housing crisis and, by HUD’s own analysis, lead to a reduction in the quantity and quality of assisted housing.
- Impose new obligations that will discourage participation in HUD programs, such as requiring public housing authorities and private landlords to notify applicants and tenants that they must inform the Department of Homeland Security immediately whenever they determine that any member of a household is present in the U.S. in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- Evict families from subsidized housing even when some members – including U.S. citizens – are fully eligible, while also disproportionately burdening elderly citizens, people of color, individuals with disabilities and low-income residents who may struggle to meet documentation requirements.
- Violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Attorney General Raoul is joined in filing this comment letter by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
