Housing advocates across the U.S. are preparing for the possibility of President Donald Trump using the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a tool to enact his immigration agenda.
The Trump administration’s blocked freeze on federal aid has caused panic among housing advocates, unsure of which HUD programs could be affected. Combined with Trump’s promises to crack down on immigration and a proposed rule from his first administration targeting mixed-immigration-status households funded through HUD, housing advocates think it’s just a matter of time before his administration turns its focus to housing.
“While the current executive actions that have been rolled out by the second Trump administration don’t specifically focus on housing or benefits, there is already a chilling effect across communities,” said Adriana Cadena, director of the nonprofit advocacy group Protecting Immigrant Families.