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Title:
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CONSIDER accepting a report concerning existing and upcoming HUD-required citizenship status reporting requirements.
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To: Contra Costa County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners
From: Joseph Villarreal, Executive Director
Report Title: HUD Required Citizenship Status Reporting
?Recommendation of the County Administrator ? Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
CONSIDER accept a report concerning existing and upcoming HUD-required citizenship status reporting requirements.
BACKGROUND:
On August 27, 2025, the Washington Examiner published an article titled "HUD threatens funding for public housing authorities shielding illegal immigrants." The article previewed a letter that anonymous HUD sources said would be first sent to the Washington DC Housing Authority and then later to every housing authority in the country. According to the HUD sources cited in the article, each housing authority will be given 30 days to do the following:
1. Identify all "mixed family" units, all units "by one or more individuals who do not contend that they have immigration status", and any beneficiaries granted assistance without verifying immigration status
2. Provide the full names and mailing addresses of all tenants identified and Request 1, along with any Social Security numbers, alien administration numbers, alien file numbers, and proof of citizenship or legal immigration status
3. Provide any "spreadsheet, analysis, or other prepared or gathered data concerning the number and/or location of tenants with ineligible immigration status in all Public Housing covered programs"
4. Provide any documentation of a specific PHA's compliance with federal code regarding immigrant program eligibility
5. Provide names and full mailing address of any tenant found to have "misrepresented either his or her citizenship, national, or eligible immigration status"
6. Provide a "full tenant file" associated with any positive hits on requests 1 or 5
Under what is known as the mixed status rule, housing authorities have been more restrictive than most federal and state agencies in allowing non-citizens on HUD programs. For more than two decades, HUD has required housing authorities to verify citizenship status. While some non-citizens were allowed on HUD programs, most were not. When the rule was enacted, any household that had some eligible members and some ineligible members was considered mixed status. Any mixed status family that was housed under the voucher or public housing program was allowed to stay housed under that program but lost a portion of their funding equivalent to the ratio of ineligible to eligible household members. For example, a family of 5 with 2 ineligible members would be limited to 60% of the funding to which they would otherwise be entitled.
While it is clear from the article that HUD believes not all housing authorities have been complying with the existing law, HACCC believes it has complied fully. As such, HUD should have most of the information that it appears will be requested of us. We will have to await our letter and any further instructions from HUD as to exactly how we will be required to proceed.
Apart from this information request, the Administration has made it clear that it intends to eliminate mixed-status eligibility. The elimination of mixed-status eligibility was proposed in the first Trump administration, and it is expected to be completed in this term. At last check, HACCC had 41 or fewer mixed-status families out of approximately 11,500 households in its various programs.
Staff will update the Board with anything learned on this matter prior to our meeting.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None. Information item only.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
None. Information item only.