WASHINGTON - Secretary Turner today announced that the Department finalized its Verification of Eligible Status rule, guaranteeing only American citizens and certain eligible noncitizens will reside in HUD-funded housing.

“President Trump warned that the days of illegal aliens and ineligible noncitizens exploiting government-funded welfare programs would be over,” said Secretary Turner. “It’s unacceptable that America’s homeless veterans, disabled, elderly, and victims of domestic violence languish on waitlists while illegals and ineligibles scam our system. American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill. Promises made, promises kept.”

The rule strengthens HUD’s enforcement of the law by requiring verification of U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status for all applicants and tenants in covered HUD programs. The final rule includes any tenants currently living in “mixed status” households that have exploited regulatory loopholes by enabling illegal aliens and ineligible noncitizens to latch on to those with eligible status. Further, this rule requires individuals who declare themselves to have U.S. citizenship provide appropriate documentation and individuals declaring eligible immigration status submit evidence for verification purposes.

HUD housing assistance is intended for U.S. citizens and a narrow list of eligible noncitizens. Yet, a HUD and DHS audit of all HUD-assisted households identified nearly 200,000 tenants with incomplete or unknown eligibility verification. HUD-funded housing serves only a quarter of eligible households in need.

Today’s action builds on HUD’s work to execute on President Trump’s Executive Order, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders." Under Secretary Turner’s leadership, HUD has:

• EXECUTED A HUD-DHS MOU: HUD and DHS partnered to ensure illegal aliens do not take advantage of HUD-funded resources at the expense of hardworking American citizens. This includes a data sharing agreement to identify illegal aliens who are ineligible for federal housing assistance and the undertaking of appropriate enforcement actions.
• REVISED FHA RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS: HUD changed its rules to require that FHA-backed loans only go to American citizens, which resulted in FHA loans for non-permanent residents falling to nearly zero percent.
• REQUIRED CITIZENSHIP VERIFICATION: HUD demanded Public Housing Authorities validate citizenship status of all their tenants or risk losing funding for those taxpayer-funded benefits.
• LAUNCHED THE REPORT CRIME HOTLINE: HUD’s hotline provides a way for Americans to report illegal aliens and criminal activity in HUD-funded housing.

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