Housing Action Illinois invites organizations across the state to sign on to a letter opposing HUD’s proposal to put mixed-status families living in HUD-funded housing at risk.
In February, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a proposed rule that targets mixed immigration status families (households with members who are both eligible and ineligible based on immigration status) who receive HUD-funded housing.
Currently, federal law and longstanding HUD policy allows for mixed-status families to live under the same roof and receive HUD subsidies for only those members of the family who are eligible based on immigration status. The proposed rule would eliminate this assistance, requiring families to either separate or face potential eviction and housing instability.
Additionally, through the proposed processes, many more people, including U.S. citizens, would have to verify their citizenship by providing specific documentation.
This rule will:
- Affect and potentially harm 198,000 households in Illinois that rely on HUD housing
- Cost Illinois and other states millions of dollars because of the increase of homelessness and administrative burden
- Create additional burdens for affordable housing providers and require the use of money they don’t have to comply
- Particularly affect families, persons with disabilities, older adults, survivors of gender-based violence, and people of color
The proposed rule mandates that all HUD-assisted housing providers require that every applicant, including U.S. Citizens, verify their status through the Department of Homeland Security’s notoriously unreliable SAVE systems, creating additional hurdles for applicants.
We’re asking organizations to sign on to our comment letter urging HUD to rescind this harmful rule and instead maintain current policy, which allows mixed-status families to live together in HUD funded housing.
The deadline to add your organization’s name to our letter is 5:00 pm CT on Monday, April 20, 2026.