HUD orders public housing officials to verify citizenship of tenants: ‘Leave no stone unturned’
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday ordered public housing authorities to immediately verify the citizenship status of tenants or risk losing federal funding.
The directive follows a joint audit by HUD and the Department of Homeland Security that identified nearly 200,000 tenants receiving taxpayer-funded rental assistance whose eligibility could not be verified. The audit also flagged approximately 25,000 deceased individuals still listed as tenants and about 6,000 non-American tenants deemed ineligible for assistance.
“We will leave no stone unturned,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement.
“Ineligible non-citizens have no place receiving welfare benefits,” Turner added. “With this new directive and audit, HUD is implementing stronger processes to protect taxpayer resources and put the American people first.”
HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Ben Hobbs called the citizenship verification effort “a major step forward to ensure we put American families first and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.”
“There are hundreds of thousands of American families on housing waitlists across the country,” Hobbs said. “It is essential that our limited resources are prioritized for eligible families only.”
Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and property owners participating in HUD-funded housing programs have 30 days to take corrective action to address the audit’s findings.
HUD warned that compliance will be closely monitored and that agencies failing to verify tenant citizenship could face sanctions, including reduced or withheld federal funding.
Using HUD funds, PHAs provide subsidized housing to eligible low-income families, elderly individuals, and people with disabilities. According to HUD, roughly 970,000 households live in public housing units managed by about 3,300 federally funded PHAs nationwide.
President Trump signed an executive order last February directing HUD and other federal agencies to ensure that illegal immigrants are excluded from receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.
The president said the Biden administration had “repeatedly undercut the goals” of existing federal law that already barred illegal immigrants from most government assistance programs, resulting in the improper use of taxpayer funds.
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