The Los Angeles City Council Friday unanimously approved a resolution opposing a proposed rule that would bar families with any undocumented member from federally subsidized housing.<\/p>\n
City Councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez introduced the resolution pursuant to Rule 23, which allows the City Council to take immediate action on matters that came to their attention prior to the posting of an agenda.<\/p>\n
The resolution is intended to make known the city\u2019s position against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development\u2019s proposal to change eligibility for federal housing programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder President Trump\u2019s leadership, the days of illegal aliens, ineligibles and fraudsters gaming the system and riding the coattails of American taxpayers are over,\u201d HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement. \u201cHUD\u2019s proposed rule will guarantee that all residents in HUD-funded housing are eligible tenants. We have zero tolerance for pushing aside hardworking U.S. citizens while enabling others to exploit decades-old loopholes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed rule would limit funding for families and individuals in public housing and other HUD-related housing programs to citizens and eligible noncitizens. The rule would require every resident in HUD-funded housing to produce proof of citizenship or eligible status.<\/p>\n
The proposal would mandate that people 62 and older in HUD-funded housing be required to provide proof of citizenship or eligible status as well \u2014 a change from existing rules that only required proof of age.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis rule would mandate aggressive citizenship verification for every member of a household, effectively barring mixed-status families from federal housing assistance, even if one family member has an ineligible immigrant status,\u201d Hernandez said during Friday\u2019s City Council meeting.<\/p>\n
She described the proposal a \u201cdirect threat\u201d to the stability of working class families.<\/p>\n
Hernandez emphasized the proposal would be felt nationwide if approved by the federal government.<\/p>\n
\u201cNationwide, 96% of those affected are people of color. About 86% are Latinx, nearly half, about 46%, are children, and in Los Angeles, this rule would put an estimated 1,700 families at risk of eviction,\u201d Hernandez added.<\/p>\n
She noted the Trump administration first attempted implementing this rule during his first term.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a calculated act of systemic cruelty. A policy that weaponizes yet another department to achieve political end. We must not allow this to happen,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
Councilman Tim McOsker emphasized the federal proposal is not about protecting tax dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cUndocumented individuals do not receive federal rental assistance, but there are mixed households with both undocumented individuals and U.S. citizens, often children. If enacted, this policy could force thousands of families out of their homes, and quite likely onto the streets,\u201d McOsker said in his statement.<\/p>\n
McOsker, who represents the 15th Council District, encompassing Watts and the Harbor Area, said his constituents would be among the most impacted by the rule. He argued it would only serve to increase poverty and homelessness.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur local residents are already living in fear due to increased immigration enforcement. Now we are talking about evicting people, not because they broke the rules, but because of the status of someone in their household,\u201d McOsker said.<\/p>\n
HUD has yet to announce when the rule would go into effect.<\/p>\n
L.A. City Council members said there is no coordination between the federal government and local jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt best, this is short-sighted, counter-productive public policy. At worst, it is cruelty impersonating governance,\u201d McOsker said in his statement. \u201cRather than breaking a functioning system, we should be focused on keeping families housed, supporting children, and strengthening communities. This, again, is the administration creating only more chaos, fear and displacement.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles City Council Friday unanimously approved a resolution opposing a proposed rule that would bar families…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":607330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,6283,261052,441,7065,6501,2961,224,5337,3997,6514],"class_list":["post-607329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-council","tag-criticizes","tag-federal","tag-housing","tag-immigrants","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-programs","tag-proposal"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116112355837493879","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}