In a recent move to tighten the reins on public housing, the Trump administration has mandated a nationwide review of public housing to identify and eliminate illegal immigrants from the system.
Scott Turner, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), made the announcement, signaling a significant shift in the administration's approach to public housing.
According to One America News, the Trump administration has issued a notice to every public housing authority (PHA) in the country, demanding the disclosure of the citizenship status of all tenants within 30 days. Failure to comply could result in the loss of federal funding.
The PHAs are expected to provide HUD with eligibility information, including citizenship status. However, two senior HUD officials, who chose to remain anonymous, told the Washington Examiner that a substantial number of PHAs have either withheld this information from the federal government or never collected it at all.
One HUD official, speaking to the Washington Examiner, expressed skepticism about the Biden administration's efforts in this regard, stating, I bet Biden HUD didnt do anything on collecting citizenship info since they support current [regulations] that allow illegals to be in mixed-status housing, so they wouldnt have wanted to know those numbers in the first place.
The term "mixed family" units refers to households that include one or more individuals who do not claim to have immigration status. The letter reviewed by the Washington Examiner instructs the PHAs to identify and provide the names, mailing addresses, and legal immigration status of individuals in these mixed family units within 30 days.
In addition, the PHAs are required to provide data concerning the number and location of tenants with ineligible immigration status in all public housing programs. They are also expected to provide a complete tenant file for any individual found to have misrepresented their citizenship or immigration status.
Turner, in a statement, declared, No longer will illegal aliens be able to leave citizenship boxes blank or take advantage of HUD-funded housing, riding the coattails of hardworking American citizens. He further explained that the lack of enforcement of prohibition against federally funded assistance to illegal aliens has resulted in HUD serving only one out of four eligible families.
In a recent interview on Fox, Turner disclosed that the Washington, D.C. Housing Authority was the first to receive the notice. He also mentioned that over 3,000 PHAs will receive the same notice and warned that the Trump administration will not hesitate to take enforcement actions against entities that do not comply with the request for citizenship information.
Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, also weighed in on the issue. She told the Washington Examiner that the federal government will work together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and ensure that illegal immigrants are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally.
She criticized the Biden administration for prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens, stating, The Biden Administration prioritized illegal aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens taxpayer-funded housing at the expense of Americans. Not anymore. She added, If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over.
This move by the Trump administration underscores its commitment to uphold the rights of American citizens and ensure that public resources are not exploited by illegal immigrants. It also sends a clear message to illegal immigrants that the administration will not tolerate any abuse of the system.
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