HUD orders public housing officials to verify citizenship of tenants: ‘Leave no stone unturned’

By Victor Nava

Published Jan. 24, 2026,

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ordered public housing authorities on Friday to conduct “immediate citizenship verification” of tenants or risk losing federal funding.

The demand follows a HUD and the Department of Homeland Security audit that discovered nearly 200,000 tenants receiving taxpayer-funded rental assistance in need of eligibility verification, including some 25,000 “deceased tenants” and about 6,000 “ineligible non-American tenants.”

“We will leave no stone unturned,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement.

“Ineligible non-citizens have no place to receive welfare benefits,” Turner added. “With this new directive and audit, HUD is putting new processes in place to safeguard taxpayer resources and put the American people first.”

https://nypost.com/2026/01/24/us-news/hud-orders-public-housing-officials-to-verify-citizenship-of-tenants-leave-no-stone-unturned/