Kristi Noem, Scott Turner establish effort to end 'exploitation of housing programs' by illegal immigrants
The Trump administration has begun an interagency effort to end what it describes as the "exploitation of housing programs" by illegal aliens.
In a statement published on Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it had established the "American Housing Programs for American Citizens" Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The agreement was also signed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The MOU is geared towards ending "the wasteful misappropriation of taxpayer dollars to benefit illegal aliens instead of American citizens," the press release 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 release read.
The effort comes a month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO) to "ensure taxpayer resources are not used to incentivize or support illegal immigration." The EO, signed on Feb. 19, ordered government departments to identify which federally-funded programs are "providing financial benefits to illegal aliens," and mandated them to "take corrective action."
In a statement about the recent MOU, HUD Secretary Scott Turner referenced the ongoing housing crisis in the U.S. and characterized the issue as "pressing."
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"This agreement will leverage resources including technology and personnel to ensure American people are the only priority when it comes to public housing," Turner said. "We will continue to work closely with DHS to maximize our resources and put American citizens first."
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem blasted the Biden administration in her statement, accusing the former president of prioritizing illegal aliens "over our own citizens, including by giving illegal aliens taxpayer-funding housing at the expense of Americans."
"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," Noem said. "If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over."