People in the country illegally will no longer have access to taxpayer-backed mortgages, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner wrote on X that the access will be halted, the day after a HUD official notified Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved mortgage lenders of the change.
“Today, HUD terminated Biden’s taxpayer-backed FHA mortgages for illegal aliens,” Turner wrote on X. “American taxpayers will no longer subsidize open borders by offering home loans to those who enter our nation illegally.”
The official notice to lenders said that “non-permanent residents” will also be ineligible for the low-income home loans that are backed by taxpayers, the New York Post reported.
“Currently, non-permanent residents are subject to immigration laws that can affect their ability to remain legally in the country,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Jeffrey Little wrote in a letter to the lenders. “This uncertainty poses a challenge for FHA as the ability to fulfill long-term financial obligations depends on stable residency and employment.”
Little didn’t know how many non-permanent residents have received FHA mortgages, but said the practice would stop immediately.
“In the past, FHA’s residency requirements have required Mortgagees to document the Borrower’s lawful residency status demonstrating long-term financial stability and eligibility for federal programs,” Little wrote. “FHA does not retain citizenship or residency data from the loan application and therefore does not maintain information on the number of non-permanent residents who have received FHA-insured loans under past policies.”
“This update ensures that FHA’s mortgage insurance programs are administered in accordance with Administration priorities while fulfilling its mission of providing access to homeownership,” he added.
The Biden administration ordered FHA mortgage lenders to provide loans to non-permanent residents who were part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, but HUD’s new policy will block those recipients as well as those who have pending asylum claims.
HUD is not the only federal department that has provided mortgages to illegal immigrants. Between 2020 and 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reportedly spent $22.6 billion on illegal immigrants, including cash payments for cars and home loans, The Daily Wire previously reported.
Watchdog organization OpenTheBooks found in February that HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) had spent the money, noting that the grants “acted as giant magnets for those seeking to cross the border and claim asylum.”
In ORR’s 2023 Congressional Budget Justification, the agency suggested expanding its mandate to include unaccompanied minors, Ukrainian and Afghan children, and full-time college or technical school students designated as refugees. It also wanted to remove the requirement that refugees obtain economic self-sufficiency “as quickly as possible.”
