Mass Union tenant leaders Dave Underhill and Carmen Baez spoke to MassLive for their coverage of HUD’s proposed rule change targeting mixed status families.
Though HUD says the rule change would “transfer assistance from mixed status families to fully eligible households,” immigration and housing advocates say in practice, it would result in forcing families to choose between separating or leaving their homes entirely, facing the prospect of homelessness.
“The people I know, they would not say, ‘Okay, see you later, I’m going to go. Mom, kids, have a good life.’ They’re either all going to try to fight it, or they’re all going to leave to go live together somewhere,” said Dave Underhill, a public housing tenant from Fall River and board president of the Massachusetts Union of Public Housing Tenants. “And if they’re in public housing now, let’s face it, they don’t have a lot of opportunities or a lot of places to move to.”