A coalition of 22 states is opposing a new policy proposal to deny housing assistance to mixed-status immigrant families.
In May, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed a new rule requiring the verification of the eligible immigration status of all recipients of housing assistance who are below 62 years old.
The coalition believes that the proposed new rule is harmful to their residents, local economies and public health.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is co-leading the coalition in opposing the HUD’s new policy proposal. According to her, “If this rule is enacted, the Trump Administration will once again be tearing families apart, and this time, it won’t be at the border, but in our communities.”
In addition, AG James said, “Threatening to evict tens of thousands of children from their homes and put them on the streets is despicable and reverses decades of standard, well-reasoned federal policy. We will not sit idly by as this administration continues to launch these discriminatory attacks against immigrants and penalize those states that welcome them.”
Thousands of U.S. citizen children will become homeless
In their comment letter, the Attorneys General of the 22 opposing states argued that the HUD’s new policy proposal will make more than 100,000 people including 55,000 children homeless. Many of the children that will be affected by the department’s proposal are U.S. citizens.
