(The Center Square) – The U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Homeland Security are taking action to end taxpayer-funded housing for illegal foreign nationals.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed a Memorandum of Understanding, “American Housing Programs for American Citizens” to end “the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of American citizens.”
The agencies are advancing President Donald Trump’s “promise to protect critical taxpayer funded housing programs designed to assist American citizens” including “ending the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of assisting American citizens, especially veterans, in need.”
The joint agency initiative terminates practices implemented by the Biden administration, “Which favored and prioritized illegal aliens over American citizens in the expenditure of housing funds and subsidies,” the MOU states. Its stated goal is “to stem the tide of illegal immigration … and incentivize illegal aliens to voluntary depart the country.”
The agencies will designate specific staff to coordinate efforts to “identify illegal aliens who are ineligible for federal housing assistance and take remedial measures to end this waste and abuse, including referral for immigration enforcement actions.”
As Noem has warned, those illegally in the country have the opportunity to self-deport, those who don’t will be found and removed with no possibility to return. This includes those who’ve been receiving taxpayer-funded housing, she said.
“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,” Noem said. “The entire government will work together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally. If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over.”
Nationwide, roughly nine million residents benefit from taxpayer-funded federally subsidized housing, “without proper information sharing to determine eligibility status,” HUD said in a statement.
“American tax dollars should be used for the benefit of American citizens, especially when it comes to an issue as pressing as our nation’s housing crisis,” Turner said. “This new agreement will leverage resources including technology and personnel to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing.”
Turner also directed HUD to comply with the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, prohibiting HUD-funded service providers from offering financial assistance to illegal foreign nationals.
In 2021, the Biden administration’s HUD waved a federal requirement to verify citizenship status for applicants to its Emergency Housing Voucher Program. It also allowed illegal border crossers to apply as the head of a household to receive housing assistance.
At a U.S. House Committee on Financial Services hearing last year, former HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge testified that HUD didn’t restrict funds based on citizenship and didn’t appear to have data on how many illegal border crossers were living in federally funded housing.
As the border crisis worsened and states and cities became inundated with illegal border crossers, many Democratic leaders turned to federal subsidies to house them.
In response, Republicans pushed back, seeking to end the practice. In Pennsylvania, for example, Republican state Sen. Wayne Langerholc filed a bill to ban illegal foreign national eligibility for the voucher program. “Pennsylvanians should not continue to bear the costs of President Biden’s disastrous border policies,” he said. “In 2021, HUD waived the requirements for verifying citizenship for individuals applying for the Emergency Housing Voucher Program, effectively making every illegal migrant eligible for a housing voucher. This waiver has granted housing authorities across the nation significant latitude regarding immigration status, a troubling development for communities with housing authorities suffering from poor leadership focused solely on accessing additional federal funds.”
Biden administration HUD policies violated federal regulations, Langerholc argued, adding that his bill would protect local communities “from the continued mismanagement of HUD by prohibiting housing authorities in this Commonwealth from providing housing assistance to illegal migrants” and prioritize U.S. military veterans. The bill went nowhere in the 2023-2024 legislative session.
Under the Trump administration, illegal border crossings dropped by more than 90 percent within two months of Trump being in office. HUD, DHS and other federal agencies like the Small Business Administration, are implementing policies to eliminate taxpayer-funded programs benefitting illegal foreign nationals.
