Overview
- The draft would require every resident in HUD-supported housing to document U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status, with prorated aid allowed only temporarily while status is verified.
- HUD estimates about 24,000 ineligible individuals in roughly 20,000 households currently benefit from assistance, while advocates project far larger displacement, with some estimates exceeding 100,000 people including many children.
- The proposal states it would adversely affect some tenants but argues losses would be offset by reallocating subsidies to fully eligible families, shifting aid away from mixed-status households.
- A Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel opinion issued alongside the proposal reinterprets a 1996 welfare law to further limit benefit eligibility for some immigrants with tenuous status.
- Administration materials task local housing providers with verifying all residents’ eligibility and, according to some reports, reporting undocumented tenants to Homeland Security, while researchers note California—especially Los Angeles—could see outsized impact and are exploring local assistance options.