Mr. Speaker. today I am introducing legislation to prohibit illegal aliens from receiving Federal housing assistance. Preliminary inquiries conducted by the General Accounting Office indicate that there are large numbers of illegal aliens currently receiving housing subsidies. The extent of this problem was first revealed through GAO interviews with various resident managers of public housing projects in southern California. One manager of a 487unit project estimated that illegal aliens comprised 36 percent of the population of the project. Another manager of a 685unit project estimated that 100125 units were occupied by illegal aliens. The difficulty in obtaining hard facts as to the extent to which illegal aliens are taking advantage of public housing assistance is precisely the reason this problem exists at all. Unlike other Federal agencies which deliver subsidy programs. such as AFDC. SSI. medicaid. food stamps. and CETA. the Department of Housing and Urban Development lacks the statutory authority to inquire into the citizenship status of persons applying for Federal housing subsidies. As a result. no data concerning the occupancy of subsidized units by illegal aliens is maintained by public housing agencies. public housing managers. or HUD. The clear purpose of the various Federal housing subsidy programs is to provide decent. safe. and sanitary housing to lowincome families. Obviously.
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illegal aliens