“You Take Care of Your Own”: A Human Rights Analysis of HUD’s 2019 “Mixed Status” Proposed Rule

Abstract

In May 2019, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed a proposed rule that sparked outrage among housing advocates and immigrant rights activists across the country. The rule would bar mixed status families—that is, families whose members include people with different citizenship or immigration statuses—from access to government subsidized housing.1 As a result, families with undocumented members would be forced to either split up to save their subsidy or to go out on the streets to find new housing. Much of the rule’s controversy stems from the potential effect on U.S. citizens themselves; HUD’s own analysis states it would more than likely force over 55,000 citizen children onto the streets, while the National Housing Law Project claims that it would provide undue burden on low income families to provide documentary proof of citizenship.