Fresno mayor, housing authority poised to oppose HUD plan targeting undocumented

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand and the Fresno Housing Authority appear to be poised to oppose a controversial federal proposal that could evict hundreds of undocumented immigrants from public housing.

New numbers released by the Fresno Housing Authority indicate up to 1,402 children and a total of 2,606 people — including adults — would face eviction from federal housing, if the proposal by the Department of Housing and Urban Development is enacted.

A total of 570 mixed-immigration status families would be impacted locally, according to the Fresno Housing Authority’s finalized data.

Those numbers appear to have greater implications for Fresno County children and families than local housing officials initially predicted. The Housing Authority earlier had estimated that some 1,300 children in Fresno County could be displaced.

The latest numbers were subject of discussion during the Fresno Housing Authority’s board of commissioner’s meeting Tuesday evening.

“I feel like the (HUD) secretary (Ben Carson) is on an island by himself on this,” said Preston Prince, executive director and chief executive officer for the Fresno Housing Authority. “This is getting a lot of criticism and it seems like it’s bipartisan... It’s really universally not liked.”

Prince during Tuesday’s meeting said Fresno Mayor Lee Brand was writing a letter opposing the proposal. Brand told The Bee his office is in the process of reviewing HUD’s proposal, but he’s “inclined to oppose it.”

“After speaking with our partners at the Housing Authority, it’s clear that we need more solutions to our housing issues, not more problems,” he said in an email.

HUD first announced Congress was reviewing its proposal in late April. The proposal, which targets mixed-immigration status families, has since been published on the Federal Register, and the public has until July 9 to submit comment on the proposed rule.

Under the proposed rule, all family members living in federally subsidized housing would require verification of their the immigration status, unless they are 62 years or older, according to the Fresno Housing Authority.

The Fresno Housing Authority also previously estimated it could lose around $600,000 annually as mixed status families pay an average of $300 to $400 more per month, compared to non-mixed status families.

HUD estimated its nationwide budget impact resulting from the proposed rule could be as much as $227 million a year.

The Fresno Housing Authority’s board of commissioners on Tuesday decided to write a letter opposing the proposal — an action Prince said was rare. The letter will be an action item at the board’s next meeting.

Prince indicated his agency had relayed information to Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, about the local impact, resulting from the proposed rule. Following that, Costa signed on to a letter the California Congressional Delegation sent to Carson last week, expressing “strong opposition,” according to the letter.

“If implemented, the rule would result in the displacement of thousands of families across the country and disproportionally affect millions of California residents,” the letter reads.

The number of children impacted in Fresno, Prince said, represents a little over a 2% of the 55,000 children, nationwide, who could be displaced under the proposed rule.

“I think that the number of impacted children raises alarm for me,” Prince said. “At the same time, I think this is a legitimate conversation to have around limited resources and how we spend those dollars in our community.”

Public housing officials nationwide have expressed similar concerns.

“We are really concerned that children will become the biggest losers as a result of this rule,” said Cara Baldari, vice president of family economics, housing and homelessness for First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., as reported in Stateline.org.

“Children in this country are already under threat,” Baldari said. “And this rule adds to the threat that children are facing.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2019 at 9:42 AM.