HUD and DHS Secretaries announce joint crackdown on illegal immigrants living in public housing | Law Enforcement Today

WASHINGTON, DC - In a joint announcement, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner told reporters Monday that both Departments are launching a joint effort to stop illegal immigrants from fraudulently living in publicly funded housing.

In a press release, the Department of Housing and Urban Development stated, “As part of this new agreement, HUD will provide a full-time staff member to assist in operations at the Incident Command Center (ICC), establishing an interagency partnership to facilitate data sharing and ensure taxpayer-funded housing programs are not used to harbor or benefit illegal aliens.”

“The Biden Administration prioritized illegally aliens over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens taxpayer-funding housing at the expense of Americans. Not anymore. The entire government will work together to identify abuse and exploitation of public benefits and make sure those in this country illegally are not receiving federal benefits or other financial incentives to stay illegally. If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over,” Secretary Noem announced firmly.

In a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) released Monday, Noem and Turner agreed, “to advance President Trump's promise to protect critical taxpayer-funded housing programs designed to assist American citizens, we commit to ending the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of assisting American citizens, especially veterans, in need.”

Under @POTUS, Americans will no longer take a back seat to illegal aliens.

DHS @Sec_Noem and I want to make it clear: No more taxpayer-funded housing for illegals. pic.twitter.com/DWvYlSHEqg

— Scott Turner (@SecretaryTurner) March 24, 2025

In a Newsmax interview the same day, Turner blasted the Biden Administration’s border and immigration policies for prioritizing the comfort of illegal immigrants over American citizens. He explained the MOU with the Dept. of Homeland Security, saying, “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. This 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.”

The release from HUD cited a study from the Center for Immigration Studies, which revealed that approximately 59 percent of all illegal immigrant households benefit from at least one form of welfare program, costing the American people as much as $42 billion.

The Department also cited an exposé by The New York Post published Saturday, which revealed that there are  9 million residents of public and subsidized housing with uncertain immigration status owing to a lack of proper data sharing.