Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (DCA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and Representatives Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), Juan Vargas (D-CA), and Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) submitted a comment letter to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Turner calling for the immediate withdraw of HUD’s proposed rule, “Housing and Community Development Act of 1980: Verification of Eligible Status.” This proposal would end longstanding prorated assistance for families of mixed immigration status and require new, across the board citizenship documentation and verification for tenants in federal housing programs that would separate families and increase eviction and homelessness across the country.

In the letter, the lawmakers underscore that Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act already limits assistance to U.S. citizens and eligible non-citizens and has, for decades, allowed mixed-status families to receive partial rental assistance to cover only the eligible family members so children and parents can remain under the same roof—preserving scarce resources and keeping families intact. HUD’s newly proposed changes would end that current practice, eliminating prorated assistance for mixed-status families and requiring each family member to be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen or otherwise face termination of their housing assistance.

“The recent introduction of the proposed rule implementing Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has inexplicably revived a cruel and much-maligned desire of the Trump Administration to separate families with mixed immigration status and evict them from the major HUD housing programs,” wrote the lawmakers.

Waters, Velázquez, Vargas and Garcia go on to raise several concerns with the new plan, including that it would exacerbate the current eviction and homelessness crisis, placing children, seniors, and people with disabilities at a disproportionate disadvantage. The lawmakers also warn against HUD’s reliance on the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE system to verify citizenship, noting its unreliability and history of inaccurately flagging U.S. citizens as noncitizens. In addition, they criticized that the rule would further strain already limited housing resources by requiring additional documentation from federally assisted households and imposing significant, unfunded compliance costs on public housing authorities, property owners, and tenants at a time when HUD programs are already stretched thin.

“This proposed rule is yet another action from Secretary Turner and the Trump Administration that fundamentally contradicts the agency’s mission ‘to create strong, sustainable inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all.’ It is also an attempt to go around Congress and re-write existing law by regulation in a way that is inconsistent with congressional intent,” the lawmakers added.

In closing, the lawmakers call on Secretary Turner to withdraw the proposed rule and instead focus on solutions that will effectively address the housing affordability crisis that Americans are being forced to grapple with.

Read the full letter HERE.

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