Trump admin targets undocumented borrowers in housing

The latest salvo in the Trump Administration's battle against undocumented immigration involves an agreement signed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to end "illegal alien exploitation" of its programs.

Secretary Scott Turner signed the "American Housing Programs for American Citizens" Memorandum of Understanding with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. HUD will provide a full-time staff member to assist at the Incident Command Center as part of the agreement.

"American tax dollars should be used for the benefit of American citizens, especially when it comes to an issue as pressing as our nation's housing crisis," said Turner in a press release. "This new agreement will leverage resources including technology and personnel to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing."

The joint press release cited data from the Center for Immigration Studies that claimed 59% of undocumented immigrant households used one or more welfare programs, at a cost of $42 billion.

"The Biden Administration prioritized illegal aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens taxpayer-funding housing at the expense of Americans," Noem said. "The entire government will work together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally."

The MOU language also includes HUD making referrals for immigration enforcement actions. "If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now," Noem stated in the press release.

This agreement follows last week's announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture terminating a waiver that allowed some non-U.S. citizens, including those with a valid social security number and work authorization to apply for a rural housing-related mortgage.

Separately, a Politico report from March 21 said the Federal Emergency Management Agency's acting administrator sent an internal memo in February stating it is reviewing "all disaster relief programs that may indirectly or incidentally aid illegal aliens."

FEMA has not returned a request for comment. The agency oversees the National Flood Insurance Program. It also provides assistance for victims of other natural disasters such as the California wildfires.

The Trump Administration has frozen FEMA funds, among other federal spending, because it claims money is going to illegal aliens.

This freeze is in violation of a March 6 preliminary injunction, a press release from New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed.

In the March 25 press release, James has joined 21 other attorneys general who have filed suit in the Federal District Court of Rhode Island, asking specifically that the FEMA funds be released.

"The Trump administration is putting lives at risk by continuing to freeze disaster relief and emergency preparedness funds to states," James said. "We sued to stop the administration's reckless and illegal funding freeze, and the court has repeatedly ruled that the essential funding our communities rely on must be restored."