Fresno Housing Authority takes stand against HUD plan, says ‘children would be displaced’
The Fresno Housing Authority’s board of commissioners voted to approve a letter strongly opposing a controversial federal proposal that could displace hundreds of children and families from public housing in Fresno.
The board’s vote Tuesday was unanimous, said Preston Prince, executive director and chief executive officer for the Fresno Housing Authority.
The proposed rule change by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development seeks to evict undocumented family members living in public housing.
Critics fear the plan will also have a detrimental impact on mixed-status families. That includes families who might have U.S.-born children, but one of their parents might be undocumented.
Addressed to J. Paul Compton Jr., HUD’s general counsel, the authority’s letter calls the proposed changes “unnecessary,” saying the plan will not reduce the number of families in need of housing assistance.
“In reality, revoking housing assistance, especially on such a large scale, would exacerbate the ongoing homelessness crisis and housing instability in our community and throughout the nation,” the letter states.
Tuesday’s board vote also allows Prince to submit additional information to HUD, in terms of the potential impacts the proposal could have locally on immigrants and families.
There is a July 9 deadline for people to submit comments on the proposed rule.
“The position of the board of commissioners and housing authority is that this was just an improper way to make a change,” he said. “There is a proper way to make a change within the program.”
Fresno children could feel impacts
In Fresno, some 1,377 children out of the 1,402 who stand to be impacted under the proposed rule, are U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents. A total of 2,606 people, including adults, would be affected in Fresno, representing 570 mixed-immigration status families.
“Under these proposed HUD requirements, mixed-status families would be forced to make an unimaginable decision between keeping their family together or losing their housing,” the housing authority’s letter states.
“Children who are eligible to receive assistance would be displaced from their homes if their parent cannot prove eligible status.”
HUD Secretary Ben Carson, who has been one of the driving forces behind the proposal, has said the country is facing affordable housing challenges, and those limited resources should be provided to those legally entitled to them.
Preston said he feels the board was “not taking a position as a lone wolf,” as several other housing authorities nationwide are taking the same stance against the proposed rule. “It was not an impulse decision, it was a thoughtful decision,” he said.
Last month, Mayor Lee Brand said he was inclined to oppose the proposed rule. On Wednesday, city spokesman Mark Standriff said he had no new information on the status of correspondence between Brand and HUD.
Other sectors express concern
Angie Nguyen, chief of staff at the Fresno Housing Authority, said other sectors, such as the health care industry, have expressed concern as well, especially because the proposed change could lead to homelessness for various families.
“Homelessness is a health issue and so then the health industry is looking at what impact it’s going to have on them,” she said.
Other agencies, like those that offer social services, child welfare services and education could be impacted as well, Nguyen said.
For example, she said, if the change went into effect, and families chose to return to their home countries and leave their children behind, there could be an increased number of children in foster care.
A press conference was held Wednesday at the Housing Authority’s office by opponents of HUD’s of proposal.
The message from the press conference was to show “how detrimental “ the proposed rule would be for families, including those in Fresno, said Eric Payne, executive director of the Central Valley Urban Institute, which organized the press conference.
“We recognize that the culture of fear that is being perpetuated on immigrant families is appalling, and this is another effort to separate children from their families,” he said.
A state-by-state breakdown released recently by the National Housing Law Project shows 936,830 people in California would be impacted by HUD’s policy – a total number of 436,340 households. Of those individuals, 846,670 are citizens.
This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Fresno Housing Authority takes stand against HUD plan, says ‘children would be displaced’."