On May 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released a proposed rule change which, if approved, would restrict the ability of “ineligible” immigrants, including those who are undocumented, to reside in federally-assisted public housing and housing-choice voucher assisted housing. LAHSA strongly opposes this proposed change, which would send thousands more Angeleno households to the brink of homelessness.

At present, ineligible immigrants are able to reside in federally-assisted housing (including public housing and voucher-supported units) as long as they are part of a “mixed-status” family, meaning at least one member of the household has an eligible immigration or citizenship status. In these cases, subsidies are pro-rated based on the number of eligible members in the household. HUD’s proposed rule change, however, would require that all residents and leaseholders of federally-assisted public housing or voucher-supported units be verified as eligible. As a result, this proposed rule change has the potential to severely impact thousands of mixed-status families, forcing them to choose between separating or staying together and facing eviction.

The proposed rule, if enacted, could impact around 11,000 individuals receiving benefits through the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) as part of a mixed-status household. The Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles (HACoLA) also estimates that just under 500 mixed-status households would be impacted as well. Additionally, by removing ineligible immigrants and thus eliminating “pro-rated” subsidies, HUD would need to increase national spending between $193 to $227 million annually to maintain assistance to the same number of individuals.