The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by secretary Dr. Ben Carson, has announced a new rule that seeks to integrate President Trump’s campaign promise of “America first” into an important HUD program. The rule would ensure that American citizens are the ones getting housing subsidies, by verifying the residency status of all members of a particular household.
Thanks to @realDonaldTrump's leadership, we are putting America's most vulnerable first. Our nation faces affordable housing challenges and hundreds of thousands of citizens are waiting for many years on waitlists to get housing assistance. https://t.co/XmASs508Su
— Ben Carson (@SecretaryCarson) April 18, 2019
Per Section 214 of The Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, HUD is prohibited from granting financial assistance to persons other than U.S. citizens, nationals, and certain legal aliens. But some households that include both citizens or eligible non-citizens, as well as ineligible illegal aliens, have gotten around the law. The ineligible members of those households just have to declare themselves “ineligible,” and their immigration status isn’t checked and they can continue to live in the government-supported housing. Via this loophole, some illegal aliens inappropriately receive federal housing subsidies.
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Now, however, HUD will verify the residency status of household members (via DHS’s SAVE system). U.S. citizens and legal residents will be the first in line to receive federal housing assistance. Legal residents include those who have a Green Card, refugees, and people who have received asylum. People presently receiving housing assistance who do not qualify for it will have up to 18-months to find other suitable/affordable housing, before the benefits are turned off.
Some will say this is just another anti-Illegal-alien Trump administration program — but it really is an Americans-first policy. According to the HUD website:
- Only 1 in 4 qualified households currently receive housing assistance in this country. That means 75% who might otherwise qualify for HUD programs don’t get any help to pay their rent whatsoever.
- In some states, public housing wait lists are closed, and local public housing agencies are not even accepting new applicants.
- Nationally, 26 months—more than 2 years—is the average time people in need are waiting on a list for housing assistance.
Think about it… Americans who are eligible for housing benefits aren’t getting helped because their slots are being taken by illegals. Right now this is just a HUD proposal. Congress gets 15 days to review the change, and after that Housing and Urban Development publishes the proposed rule amendments and the public has 60 days to comment.
While this proposal will not totally fix the problem, it is certainly a logical step toward easing the wait that eligible people endure when applying for help. Secretary Carson might say, “America First, it’s not brain surgery.”
Cross-posted at The Lid
