EL PASO, TEXAS — The Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition (PIF) submitted a comment Tuesday, opposing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposal to deny federally subsidized housing to entire families that include a person who is undocumented. The comment was co-signed by 395 organizations nationwide. Those include leading housing advocates like the National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Housing Law Project, and National Low Income Housing Coalition, as well as a range of other voices including the Coalition on Human Needs, Food Research & Action Center, Justice in Aging, National Consumer Law Center, National Disability Rights Network, National Women’s Law Center, and ZERO TO THREE.
“HUD’s claim that this is about ‘illegal immigration’ is yet another lie from the Trump administration – people who are undocumented are already denied housing subsidies,” said PIF Executive Director Adriana Cadena. “This plan will evict lawfully present immigrants and U.S. citizens in immigrant families.”
The current policy, in effect for decades, ensures that when a family qualifies for subsidized housing includes someone who is ineligible based on immigration status, the subsidy is reduced proportionally. For example, imagine a family that includes a mom who is undocumented, a dad who has a green card, and two U.S. citizen children. If all of the individuals in this family qualified based on immigration status, the family might receive a monthly rent subsidy of $400. In this case, while the dad and both kids qualify based on immigration status, the mom does not. The family’s subsidy is reduced to $300 a month. The HUD proposal would instead deny aid to eligible people in immigrant families and evict lawfully present immigrants and U.S. citizens in immigrant families already served by affordable housing programs.
“The lengths the Trump administration will go to destabilize immigrant families, including those with small children, are truly atrocious,” said Sosseh Prom, Housing Justice Director at African Communities Together. “Under this rule, mixed-status families are basically being told ‘separate, or risk homelessness together.’ This administration continues to propose and implement policies that are inhumane and ineffective at solving the problems people actually care about, and it has to stop. We must stand together to end the unjust scapegoating and persecution of immigrants in the U.S., and hold this administration accountable for its actions.”
The proposal is similar to one issued by HUD in 2019 but never finalized. HUD estimated that the 2019 proposal would have denied housing assistance to 25,000 families, which included 55,000 children.
“There is an affordable housing crisis across America, especially for those with the lowest incomes. Bullying low-income immigrant families by withholding the resources they rely on and forcing them to choose between staying together or losing housing assistance worsens this crisis and will increase housing insecurity,” said Renee M. Willis, NLIHC President and CEO. “Instead of investing in proven solutions like rental assistance and vouchers, the Trump administration has deterred eligible immigrant families from seeking housing benefits and stoked fear in immigrant communities. The proposed ‘mixed-status’ rule is unlawful, cruel, and an egregious abuse of power. NLIHC is proud to stand with our partners in pushing back against the harmful implementation of this rule.”
As before, the administration has falsely claimed that the proposal will mitigate housing costs, which have remained persistently high under President Trump. FactCheck.org has debunked White House claims about immigrants and housing, citing experts who attribute high housing costs to “low mortgage interest rates that fueled demand, a subsequent rise in interest rates, and a low housing supply.”
This is the latest Trump administration move that actually worsens America’s housing crisis. The Trump tariffs are driving up building materials costs, and ICE raids have hit the housing industry workforce hard. And safety net cuts championed by the administration put health care and food out of reach for millions, forcing families to choose between rent and other basics.
“The American people need leaders who solve problems, not politicians who make problems worse and blame hardworking families for their own failed policies,” said Cadena.
The HUD proposal runs counter to the priorities of a bipartisan supermajority of the American people, according to a PIF poll released last week. That poll found that 83% of Americans support health and social services for lawfully present immigrants, like those targeted by the HUD proposal. The same poll found that a majority of Americans are concerned that anti-immigrant policies are harming U.S. citizens in immigrant families.
“The American people don’t want this,” said Cadena. “They don’t want leaders who lie to them, they don’t want government by bait-and-switch, and they don’t want an immigration policy that harms U.S. citizens.
About half the people in immigrant families are U.S. citizens – immigrants account for about 14% of the country’s population, while people in immigrant families account for 28%. Yet these families make up fewer than 1% of all households receiving HUD assistance.
“The proposal punishes U.S. citizens, while doing nothing to increase the availability of affordable housing and help all families live in safe and stable housing,” the letter reads.
