BALTIMORE – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter opposing a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would prohibit mixed-status families – families composed of at least one eligible individual and one or more individuals who are ineligible due to their immigration status – from living in public housing and from receiving other federal housing, including Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) and project-based rental assistance.
Attorney General Brown and the coalition urge withdrawal of the proposal because it jeopardizes Maryland families’ access to basic housing, increases burdens on state agencies, and undermines state laws and programs.
Currently, HUD allows mixed-eligibility families to live together in subsidized housing with a decrease in the housing subsidy to exclude ineligible individuals from the assistance. In a major shift, under the proposed rule, entire households would face eviction from subsidized housing if just one member of the household is found ineligible for aid because of their immigration status. Among other things, the proposed rule would:
- Strain State resources by requiring individuals eligible for federal housing assistance to newly verify eligibility and submit additional documentation which will reduce access to subsidized housing to mixed-status families.
- Impose new obligations that will discourage participation in HUD programs, such as requiring public housing authorities and private landlords to notify applicants and tenants that they must inform the Department of Homeland Security immediately whenever they determine that any member of a household is present in the U.S. in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
- Evict families from subsidized housing even when some members, including U.S. citizens, are fully eligible, while also disproportionately burdening elderly citizens, people of color, individuals with disabilities and low-income residents who may struggle to meet documentation requirements. Thousands of Marylanders, including citizen children, are at risk of housing instability and homelessness.
- Exacerbate the housing crisis and, by HUD’s own analysis, lead to a reduction in the quantity and quality of assisted housing.
- Violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
In filing the comment letter, Attorney General Brown joined the attorneys general of California, New York, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.