Trump immigration rule could displace 55K children from public housing: HUD

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday estimated that more than 55,000 children who are legal U.S. residents or citizens could be displaced by a Trump administration plan to expel undocumented immigrants from public housing, according to The Washington Post.

The proposed rule, published Friday, would tighten regulations on undocumented immigrants who have been granted access to subsidized housing, which HUD Secretary Ben Carson said last month would “make certain our scarce public resources help those who are legally entitled to it.”

The agency’s review found that half of those facing eviction under the plan are children legally qualified for the public assistance, the Post reported.

{mosads}Current regulations allow families of mixed immigration status to receive federal housing subsidies as long as one member of the family is eligible. The new rule, proposed by White House aide and immigration hard-liner Stephen Miller, would require every member of the household to be of “eligible immigration status.” 

The HUD analysis shows that roughly 25,000 households, representing about 108,000 people, have at least one person who would be ineligible.

Among the mixed households — the majority of which are in California, Texas and New York — 76,000 people, including 55,000 children, are legally eligible for federally subsidized housing.

“HUD expects that fear of the family being separated would lead to prompt evacuation by most mixed households,” the analysis said. “Temporary homelessness could arise for a household, if they are unable to find alternative housing.”

The mixed-status households that are federally subsidized receive an average of $8,400 a year, the analysis said. Restricting aid to families in which all members are eligible would cost between $193 million and $227 million more each year because entire families would receive higher subsidies, HUD said in its analysis.

Recognizing that Congress would likely not appropriate the additional funds, the analysis found that HUD could be forced to “reduce the quantity and quality of assisted housing in response to higher costs.” 

As a result, “there could be fewer households served under the housing choice vouchers program.” 

The analysis said that increased costs could hurt the quality of service and lead to the possible “deterioration of the units that could lead to vacancy.”

The plan proposes “less costly” options to limit the “adverse impact of the transition on eligible children,” including allowing mixed-status families to stay in subsidized housing and only applying the proposal to new households seeking federal funds.