Trump Isn’t the First President to Neglect Fair Housing
A lack of federal enforcement means most U.S. states and localities have failed to take meaningful steps to “affirmatively further fair housing.”
Ben Carson, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, replaced the Obama administration’s fair housing rule with a new one that places fewer requirements on federal grant recipients. President Donald Trump says the suburbs need to be protected from low-income housing and crime.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/CNP/Bloomberg
The recent rule from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development dramatically waters down the obligation of states and localities receiving federal funds intended to “affirmatively further fair housing.”
Formally published in the Federal Register on Friday, the HUD rule says grant recipients need not take any action to remove segregation-perpetuating barriers to fair housing choice such as exclusionary zoning. As long as they say they have done something — like provide “safe and decent housing” — HUD will treat them as compliant. Even the term “segregation” — let alone the requirement to do anything about it — has been scrubbed from the rule altogether.