HUD chief puts illegal aliens living in government-funded housing on notice: Americans are 'our only priority'
PHILADELPHIA — Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner warned illegal immigrants living in government-funded housing, telling Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that HUD is prioritizing only Americans under the Trump administration.
"Those that are here illegally, that are living in HUD-funded public housing, we're putting (them) on notice this is not acceptable," Turner told Fox News Digital from Philadelphia, as he toured the city's recent HUD successes and met with local housing and business leaders. "We will not have it anymore,"
"At HUD, we only serve one out of four Americans that we should be serving, and that has to come to an end," Turner continued. "And so we're not only making it a priority, but we are making that our only priority, that American citizens will benefit from hard-working American taxpayer dollars."
The HUD secretary has been on an immigration blitz, including joining forces with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to form a new interagency initiative aimed at ensuring that federal housing funds do not go to illegal immigrants. The pair of Trump officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding Monday that solidified the partnership in its effort to end "wasteful misappropriation" of taxpayer-funded public housing resources that previously benefited illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden administration.
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"American tax dollars should be used for the benefit of American citizens, especially when it comes to an issue as pressing as our nation’s housing crisis," Turner said Monday. "This new agreement will leverage resources, including technology and personnel, to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing. We will continue to work closely with DHS to maximize our resources and put American citizens first."
On Wednesday, Turner announced that his department had axed taxpayer-backed Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages for illegal immigrants. Turner said after announcing the change that HUD-backed mortgages should benefit Americans "who play by the rules and work hard, not those who enter our country illegally."
Turner told Fox News Digital Thursday that the Biden administration rolled out "harmful" immigration policies that worsened homelessness across the U.S. and prioritized illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens in need of housing.
"We have a homelessness and we have a housing affordability crisis," he said. "During the Biden administration, there were very harmful, irresponsible border security and immigration policies. They prioritized illegal aliens over American citizens."
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Turner highlighted to Fox News Digital that "government is not the answer" to issues related to America's housing crisis, homelessness, drug addiction and crime, but instead must operate as a "partner" to the private sector, faith-based programs and nonprofits.
"Homelessness is a big deal in our country," he said. "It went up 18% in the last year — over 770,000 people on one single night in January of 2024 were homeless, and that's unacceptable. With record funding coming from HUD, we still have a homelessness crisis in our country."
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"Public-private partnerships are vital to eradicating homelessness," he continued. "Faith-based institutions, nonprofit institutions that are doing the work on a daily basis, we have to partner. The federal government is not the answer. The federal government is a great partner, a great facilitator. But it's the private sector, it's faith-based, it's the nonprofits that really have their hands to the plow and their feet on the ground, that are doing the everyday work."
Turner cited that crime, drug use and illegal immigration have all compounded the U.S.' housing crisis.
Turner traveled to Philadelphia on Thursday to visit "Opportunity Zones" in the City of Brotherly Love. HUD's Opportunity Zones are defined as economically distressed areas across the nation that incentivize investment and economic development through federal tax benefits to investors.
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The HUD secretary previously served as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump administration, and he led the Opportunity Zones Initiative to revitalize economically distressed areas with affordable housing, and the launch of new businesses — such as the creation of grocery stores in food deserts often found in inner cities.
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Fox News Digital's Alec Schemmel and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.