HUD Secretary Says Illegals May No Longer ‘Live In Taxpayer-Funded Housing’

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner said Friday on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” that illegal immigrants may no longer “live in taxpayer-funded housing.”

In March, Turner and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the “American Housing Programs for American Citizens,” ending “the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of American citizens.” Discussing how HUD plans to prevent illegal migrants from living in public housing, Turner said the department has already issued a letter to the D.C. Housing Authority requesting its full list of residents and those without U.S. citizenship. (RELATED: Alex Padilla Says Illegal Immigrants Are Long-Term Residents Who Just ‘Happen To Be Undocumented’)

“President Trump is serious not only in cleaning up the crime in our streets, but also American citizens will be prioritized when it comes to living in HUD-funded, government-funded housing,” Turner said. “We just sent out a letter to the D.C. Housing Authority, and it has been received by them. And, as you said, they have 30 days to give us a full, comprehensive account of everyone living inside of D.C. housing that are receiving Section 8 vouchers or any type of HUD funding.”

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“We want the names, the address, the number of people in the unit, the size of the unit, the cost of the unit. And they must give us their American citizenship status or eligible immigration status. No longer will we allow illegal aliens to live in taxpayer-funded housing here in America. In the last administration, in the Biden administration, they turned a blind eye. They didn’t collect the data,” Turner added. “But those days are over. We are collecting  the data to make sure they’re illegal aliens. And for that criminal activity, no one doing criminal activity is living in HUD-funded housing, which is literally on the backs of taxpayers in America.”

Under the Biden administration, the border crisis became a major issue for the president as officials estimated a total of 10.8 million encounters with illegal migrants since fiscal year 2021. With a massive influx of illegal immigrants coming into the United States, Democrat mayors of sanctuary cities like Denver and New York City eventually asked the administration for funding to address the issue in 2023.

By 2024, reports indicated that due to the surge of illegal immigrants, the U.S. had an estimated shortage of 4 million to 7 million housing units, with developers struggling to keep up with the demand for homes. In addition to housing concerns, rent in 2024 saw an increase of 20.9% since 2021, which had already risen due to inflation under Biden.

According to data from the Center for Immigration Studies, an estimated 59% of illegal immigrant households use one or more welfare programs, which costs taxpayers an estimated $42 billion.

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