May 15, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 81 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S2848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Public Housing

  Mr. President, finally, on public housing, it was reported last week 
that the Department of HUD has proposed a rule that would bar families 
with mixed immigration status from receiving public housing assistance, 
even if everyone but one member of the family is a legal resident. So 
if it is a family of six--a mother who is an American citizen, four 
children who are American citizens, but a husband who is not and who is 
not here legally--they kick them all out. It risks displacing tens of 
thousands of legal residents and of American citizens, including 55,000 
children. The administration has created crisis after crisis with the 
immigration community. Are they going to create another one and take 
55,000 young American children, almost all of whom are citizens, and 
just kick them out on the streets when we know there is very little 
affordable housing? What a cruel and callous policy. It is another 
example of the Trump administration's desire to separate families and 
disrupt communities.
  There is nothing to say about this proposed rule but that it is 
cruel, wrong-headed, and would lead to even more chaos than the 
administration has created already.
  In an effort to appear even more punitive toward immigrants, the 
administration has conjured up a rule that could potentially force tens 
of thousands of children into homelessness or away from their families.
  My message to President Trump and Secretary Carson is simple: Scrap 
this idea now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri is recognized.