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Fresno housing officials want HUD to halt plan that could force immigrants from their homes
Efforts are underway in California to halt a rule change that opponents say could displace nearly one million residents in the state — including more than 2,600 in Fresno County.
In April 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a proposed rule change affecting mixed-immigration status families. Under the proposal, all family members living in federally subsidized housing would require verification of their immigration status unless they are 62 years old or older.
This week, Eduardo Cabrera, a spokesman for HUD, said the agency continues to move forward with plans for the change. The agency is reviewing public comments. It’s unclear when the rule might be implemented, and Cabrera did not provide a timeline.
Public comments closed July 9, 2019.
Earlier this week, Brandi Johnson, a Fresno Housing Authority spokesperson, said the rule change could harm many local families.
“The current pandemic has put us all in a position of uncertainty,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Moving forward with this rule now would place unnecessary strain and challenges on families.”
Supporters of the proposed changes say it is a “reasonable approach” to solving the shortage of public housing in the country. HUD Secretary Ben Carson has said, given the country’s housing challenges, officials need to make sure scarce public resources help those legally entitled to them.
HUD has said if affected families cannot find alternative housing, they may be able to obtain a temporary deferral for up to 18 months.
Johnson said the Fresno Housing Authority supports a recent request from California to suspend the process so that mixed-immigration status families are not forced to make “unthinkable decisions” during the pandemic.
Last month, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent a letter urging Carson to “suspend” the rulemaking process during the pandemic.
“For HUD to push forward with finalization of the Proposed Rule — which HUD itself has acknowledged will cause homelessness and other housing disruptions for affected families — during the COVID-19 outbreak would undermine all the federal and state efforts” to prevent evictions, Becerra said in the letter.
Becerra said minimizing housing disruptions is critical, and many states, such as California, have taken action to avoid those displacements. For example, he said, California’s Judicial Council expanded protections to cease evictions during the state of emergency and 90 days after it ends.
Based on a review conducted by the Fresno Housing Authority in 2019, up to 2,606 people, including 1,402 children, would face eviction under the rule change.
Statewide, nearly 1 million people could lose their homes, according to a 2019 analysis by the National Housing Law Project.
HUD’s estimates are lower.
Nationally, HUD has estimated the proposed rule change would affect 108,104 people from 25,000 mixed-status families. HUD has said the rule could displace about 55,000 children who have legal permanent status or are U.S. citizens, but one or both parents are undocumented.
“The implementation of the rule could create instability in families who would be faced with the difficult decision of keeping their existing housing but asking ineligible family members to move out or losing their housing altogether,” Johnson said. “Separating healthy families is never a good thing.”
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