MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A new rule out today could push many people out of federally subsidized housing, including tens of thousands of U.S. citizen children. NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports it's part of the Trump administration's wider immigration crackdown.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: Millions of families in the U.S. are what's called mixed status, a blend of American citizens and immigrants - some here illegally, some not. Undocumented immigrants do not get federal rental aid, but since the '90s, Congress has let them live with family members who do. Now?
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SCOTT TURNER: We're closing this decades-old loophole.
LUDDEN: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner announced the new rule on the Fox Business Network. He said it's not fair to let people without legal status live in public housing.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TURNER: Because American taxpayers work hard and this is not for illegals. And the president made a promise that he would stop the subsidization of open borders.
LUDDEN: Federal rental aid is deeply underfunded, and only a quarter of those eligible ever get it. That can mean yearslong waitlists for people to get the help.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TURNER: You have elderly people, you have veterans that are homeless, people that are escaping from domestic violence, you know? And so public housing, American housing is for people that are here legally.
LUDDEN: Marie Claire Tran-Leung is with the National Housing Law Project, an advocacy group for poor people, which opposes the new rule.
MARIE CLAIRE TRAN-LEUNG: It really looks more like they are trying to deploy HUD for immigration enforcement purposes.
LUDDEN: She says it requires all members of a household to verify their citizenship status with a controversial federal data system known as SAVE. The Trump administration revamped it to check state voter rolls, and that's prompted a legal challenge after the system mistakenly flagged some eligible voters as potential noncitizens. Tran-Leung also accuses HUD of promoting fear with its rhetoric.
TRAN-LEUNG: At the end of the day, this administration is focused not necessarily on the rights of mixed-status families, but on trying to get them to self-evict.
LUDDEN: As HUD notes in the rule, pushing out mixed-status families will actually cost the government more. Tran-Leung says that's because they get a smaller subsidy than those where every member is eligible.
TRAN-LEUNG: If these families are forced to leave, there will be less funding available for HUD-assisted housing, which reduces the housing supply and worsens the housing crisis for everyone.
LUDDEN: HUD's new rule takes effect in 30 days and allows a few months for local housing authorities to figure out which residents must go. Tran-Leung says a legal challenge is likely. Jennifer Ludden, NPR News, Washington.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
