The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a new proposal on Feb. 19 that would block illegal immigrants from using taxpayer-funded public housing benefits.
Under the proposed rule, every resident living in HUD-funded housing would be required to provide proof of US citizenship or eligible status, including those living in “mixed status households.” The department said enforcement would reserve, “for the first time in history,” public housing for American citizens and “eligible individuals” only.
No More Loopholes for Illegal Immigrants
The proposed rule targets a list of loopholes, including the option to self-declare citizenship without document verification, documentation exceptions for noncitizens based on age, the choice to declare “do not contend” to avoid submitting documentation, and the ability to access HUD resources indefinitely despite ineligible status.
The department’s solutions to the above loopholes include requiring documentation for all potential public housing beneficiaries, regardless of age; removing the “do not contend” option; and cutting off HUD benefits for ineligible individuals.
The rule is part of the administration-wide crackdown on illegal immigration. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the days of illegal aliens, ineligibles, and fraudsters gaming the system and riding the coattails of American taxpayers are over,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement. “HUD’s proposed rule will guarantee that all residents in HUD-funded housing are eligible tenants. We have zero tolerance for pushing aside hardworking U.S. citizens while enabling others to exploit decades-old loopholes.”
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and HUD audit found roughly 200,000 tenants in assisted households have either incomplete or unknown eligibility. Around 24,000 illegal immigrants, ineligible individuals, and frauds in 20,000 “mixed status households” currently benefit from US taxpayer support.
“For too long, illegals and ineligibles have taken spots in public housing through the ‘mixed status’ roommate loophole, while Americans were forced to wait,” Turner wrote on X. “That ends today.”
It is unclear if and when the proposed rule will be fully implemented.
Tired Taxpayers
For many Americans, the bigger surprise wasn’t the proposed rule itself, but the realization that such glaring loopholes existed.
“It’s insane that this is not already law,” journalist Michael Casey wrote on X. Right-wing influencer Mila Joy echoed Casey’s disbelief, writing, “Illegals should not get Social Security, SNAP, HUD housing, or Medicaid. They should get deported.”
With tax season right around the corner, the affordability crisis straining US households, and the national debt rising every day, how much more fraud can Americans expect to stomach? Calls for a tax boycott already circulated on social media earlier this year after YouTuber and independent journalist Nick Shirely uncovered multiple alleged scandals in Minnesota. As Liberty Nation News previously reported, “Investigations into what seems to be an extensive network of fake day care centers and medical clinics – mostly set up by Somali immigrants and Americans of Somali descent – are widening. These phony operations appear to have defrauded the residents of Minnesota and the American people out of something like $10 billion. The actual figure, at this point, is not known.”
Whether the proposed rule moves forward or not, questions remain: Why did the federal government ever allow the HUD loopholes, and what other regulation gaps are illegal immigrants exploiting at the expense of Americans?
