In 2026 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued two proposed rules that would significantly change who qualifies for federal housing assistance and how long they can keep it. The HUD proposed rules of 2026 would end ongoing prorated subsidies for families with a mix of citizen and noncitizen members, and would let local housing authorities require work and impose two-year time limits on non-elderly, non-disabled residents. Neither rule has been finalized, and the administration’s parallel budget requests seek deep cuts to other housing programs that Congress has so far mostly rejected.
The Mixed-Status Family Rule
On February 20, 2026, HUD published a proposed rule titled “Housing and Community Development Act of 1980: Verification of Eligible Status.”1Federal Register. Housing and Community Development Act of 1980: Verification of Eligible Status It would require every person living in HUD-assisted housing to prove U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status, regardless of age.
Under the current system, “mixed-status” families — households where some members are citizens or eligible immigrants and others are not — can receive housing subsidies prorated to cover only the eligible members. A family of four with two eligible members receives roughly half the subsidy. The proposed rule would end that arrangement in two ways. It would remove the “do not contend” provision that lets a household member decline to submit immigration documents while the rest of the family keeps receiving prorated help.2HUD. Proposed Rule on Verification of Eligible Status And it would make prorated assistance strictly temporary, available only while verification is pending rather than as an ongoing arrangement.
The practical effect: if any household member cannot verify eligible status, the entire family loses its subsidy. HUD tied the rule to Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and to Executive Order 14218, “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders,” signed by President Trump on February 19, 2025.3HUD. HUD Communication on Executive Order 14218 HUD described the rule as closing a “roommate loophole.”4HUD. HUD Press Release No. 26-015
Who Would Lose Assistance
HUD estimated that about 24,000 ineligible individuals live in roughly 20,000 mixed-status households receiving assistance.4HUD. HUD Press Release No. 26-015 The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimated that nearly 80,000 people in over 20,000 households could lose rental assistance, and that two out of three people in those families are U.S. citizens. About 36,900 children are at risk, nearly all of them citizens. CBPP found that 96 percent of those affected are people of color, 86 percent are Latino, and 56 percent are women or girls.5Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Administration Plan Targeting Immigrants Would Take Away Rental Assistance
Affected families would face a choice: lose assistance entirely, or split up the household so only verified members remain. The National Housing Conference projected that ending proration would actually cost the government $311 million to $385 million more, because fully eligible replacement households receive full rather than prorated subsidies.6National Association of Realtors. Industry Weighs in on HUDs Proposed Mixed-Status Rule
Verification Through SAVE
The rule would run all verification through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE, administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. SAVE was originally built to verify the immigration status of noncitizens. Its use for citizenship verification was added in 2025, and its reliability in that role is contested.7U.S. House Financial Services Committee Democrats. Letter on Mixed-Status Families Proposed Rule
The Electronic Privacy Information Center documented error rates when SAVE was used to check citizenship elsewhere. In Erath County, Texas, 66 percent of people flagged as noncitizens turned out to be citizens. In Duval County, Texas, the figure was 100 percent. In St. Louis and Boone County, Missouri, more than half of those flagged were citizens.8EPIC. Comments of EPIC to HUD on Verification of Eligible Status HUD’s own preamble acknowledged SAVE “has limitations on the types of documents and information it can review” and sometimes requires manual searches that “may take significant time.”9National Housing Law Project. Analysis of Mixed-Status Families Proposed Rule
Documentation is a barrier for citizens too. Roughly 9 percent of U.S. citizen adults — about 21.3 million people — lack readily available proof of citizenship such as a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization certificate.10Terner Center for Housing Innovation, UC Berkeley. Pathways to Support Mixed-Status Immigrant Families Receiving Federal Housing Assistance CBPP noted that 3.8 million adult citizens currently receiving HUD assistance lack citizenship documentation and another 17.5 million cannot readily access it, with birth certificates costing $30 to $80.5Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Administration Plan Targeting Immigrants Would Take Away Rental Assistance The National Housing Law Project has argued HUD lacks the statutory authority to end proration, because Section 214 states that assistance to mixed-status families “shall be prorated,” and has flagged that the proposed rule removes appeal provisions and does not stay evictions while tenants try to correct SAVE errors.9National Housing Law Project. Analysis of Mixed-Status Families Proposed Rule
The Work Requirements and Time Limits Rule
On March 2, 2026, HUD published a second proposed rule, “Establishing Flexibility for Implementation of Work Requirements and Term Limits.”11Federal Register. Establishing Flexibility for Implementation of Work Requirements and Term Limits It would allow public housing agencies, and certain owners of Section 8 project-based properties, to require work-eligible adults to work up to 40 hours per week and to impose time limits of at least two years on non-elderly, non-disabled households.
Residents could satisfy the requirement through employment, job training, community service, or vocational education. Agencies that adopt the requirements would have to provide supportive services such as job training, childcare, transportation, or substance use treatment.12National Association of Counties. Proposed HUD Rule May Result in Work Requirements and Time Limits for Public Housing Only “well-performing” housing agencies — those not in receivership or designated as troubled — would be eligible to adopt the policies, and the rule emphasized local flexibility in design and enforcement.11Federal Register. Establishing Flexibility for Implementation of Work Requirements and Term Limits
HUD cited data showing nearly half of non-elderly, non-disabled assisted households reported zero earnings in 2024, and that 90 percent of able-bodied Section 8 voucher recipients spend more than five years in subsidized housing, with half staying longer than 15 years.13HUD. HUD Press Release No. 26-018 HUD estimated 19,000 to 79,000 families would transition out of subsidized housing in the first year, freeing slots for waiting-list families.14HUD. HUD Press Release No. 26-021 Secretary Scott Turner said in the announcement, “Getting a paycheck is empowering, getting a welfare check is not.”
The National Low Income Housing Coalition and more than 50 organizations urged HUD to withdraw the rule, arguing that most residents who can work already do, and that work requirements in SNAP and Medicaid have not been shown to increase employment or earnings.15National Low Income Housing Coalition. NLIHC Urges HUD to Withdraw Work Requirements and Time Limits Proposed Rule The National Women’s Law Center said the rule would disproportionately harm women, particularly women of color, older women, women with disabilities, and survivors of domestic violence.16National Women’s Law Center. NWLC Submits Comment Opposing HUD Proposed Rule Representative Ritchie Torres and Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández, whose districts contain the two largest public housing authorities in the country, submitted a joint comment arguing that “stable housing is often a prerequisite for employment, not a barrier to it.”17U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Rep. Ritchie Torres. Reps Torres and Hernandez Urge HUD to Reconsider Proposed Work Requirements
Budget Cuts and Program Eliminations
The rules arrived alongside budget requests that would reshape HUD’s funding. The administration’s FY2027 budget, submitted April 3, 2026, requested $73.5 billion in gross discretionary spending, a 13 percent cut from the $84.2 billion enacted for FY2026. It proposed eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, housing counseling, Choice Neighborhoods, and Native Hawaiian housing grants — programs that received roughly $9.1 billion in FY2026. Fair housing activities faced a 70 percent cut, lead hazard control a 63 percent cut, and homeless assistance grants a 9 percent cut.18Congressional Research Service. HUD FY2027 Budget Analysis
The picture for the largest programs was mixed. Housing Choice Vouchers were proposed at roughly $38.8 billion, a modest increase over FY2026 to cover rising renewal costs, though the budget required all public housing agencies to stop issuing new vouchers with limited exceptions. The Public Housing Operating Fund was proposed at $5.4 billion, up from $5 billion, while the Capital Fund held flat at $3.2 billion.19Bipartisan Policy Center. President Trumps FY2027 Budget Overview of Housing Programs
Congress has not adopted the elimination proposals. The final FY2026 spending bill, signed February 3, 2026, kept most HUD programs at or near prior-year levels.20Housing Assistance Council. HUD Funding FY26 On June 3, 2026, the House Appropriations Committee advanced its FY2027 bill on a 34–27 party-line vote. The bill proposed $71.4 billion for HUD, an 8 percent cut from FY2026, and cut public housing by $1.3 billion and fair housing by more than 43 percent. The committee also adopted an amendment by Representative Adriano Espaillat directing HUD to keep serving mixed-status households under the current Section 214 framework, which would effectively block the mixed-status rule if it survives the rest of the legislative process. The committee rejected an amendment that would have blocked funds for the work requirements rule.21National Low Income Housing Coalition. House Appropriations Committee Holds Markup and Party-Line Vote to Advance FY27 HUD Spending
Where Things Stand
Neither rule has been finalized. The mixed-status rule’s public comment period closed April 21, 2026, and the work requirements comment period closed May 1, 2026. The FY2027 appropriations bill has cleared the House committee but has not received a floor vote, and the Senate has not acted. If the Espaillat amendment survives conference and enactment, it would block implementation of the mixed-status rule for the coming fiscal year. The SAVE verification system is already the subject of litigation in federal court, and further legal challenges to either rule are likely once they are finalized.9National Housing Law Project. Analysis of Mixed-Status Families Proposed Rule
If you live in a mixed-status household receiving HUD assistance, nothing changes today. If a final rule takes effect, you would need to verify citizenship or eligible status for every household member through SAVE, and prorated assistance would no longer be available as an ongoing arrangement. If you live in public housing or use a Housing Choice Voucher and are a non-elderly, non-disabled adult, whether you face work requirements or a two-year time limit would depend on whether your local housing authority chooses to adopt them; the rule is permissive, not mandatory, and elderly and disabled households would remain exempt.