President Donald Trump released a series of Executive Orders (EOs) that would significantly impact immigrants, federal employees, and transgender people on January 20, just moments after his inauguration.
In a sweeping EO on immigration, President Trump directs federal agencies to take action to remove undocumented immigrants from the country, and directs states to create a statewide Homeland Security Taskforce, as well as detention centers for undocumented immigrants. The EO also threatens to block federal funding from “sanctuary cities,” which are local governments that limit or deny cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and requires federal agencies to ensure undocumented immigrants do not receive federal benefits. The EO also proposes ending birthright citizenship; because this right is guaranteed in the Constitution, it would take an act of Congress to amend the Constitution and end birthright citizenship.
Under current law, undocumented immigrants are already ineligible for most federal assistance programs, including housing assistance, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as “food stamps.” However, during his previous term, President Trump issued a proposed rule that would evict families who receive HUD assistance if one or more household members are undocumented. These families, known as “mixed status” families, receive prorated assistance that does not take into account the undocumented family member. For example, a family of four in which one person is undocumented would receive assistance for a family of three.
The President also signed EOs related to the federal workforce, including ordering current federal employees back to full-time, in-office work. Another EO implements a hiring freeze on the federal workforce, and another would restore a category of federal worker, “Schedule F,” that lacks worker protections and would make it easier to fire career civil servants for minor infractions, including “insubordination.” Additional EOs would remove pay transparency and equity requirements for federal workers, contractors, and subcontractors; stop any federal rules from the Biden Administration from going into effect; and provide White House staff top secret security clearances while skipping the typical background check and vetting process.
HUD’s workforce has been facing a critical staffing shortage impacting the agency’s ability to quickly and efficiently administer its programs. According to a 2018 report from HUD’s Inspector General, the department’s “constant turnover and extended vacancies” meant that “HUD could not fill essential positions with officials who stayed long enough to implement a vision and effect sustained positive changes.”
President Trump also issued an EO declaring that the administration only recognizes “two sexes,” male and female. The purpose of this EO is to manufacture justification for discrimination against transgender people, including future EOs that will likely target transgender peoples’ access to shelter, healthcare, and other resources. During the previous Trump Administration, HUD released a proposed rule that would limit transgender peoples’ access to gender-affirming shelter services, a decision that would worsen the number of transgender people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and that would put them at increased risk of violence both in shelters and on the streets.
NLIHC and our members, partners, and allies will continue to monitor administrative and Congressional actions that will impact housing affordability and access for people with the lowest incomes. Below are some additional resources that may be helpful in keeping immigrant families and communities safe:
- A Guide for Employers: What to Do if Immigration Comes to Your Workplace NILC, 2024
- Advice for Non-Profits if ICE comes., New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and Lawyers Alliance for New York.
- Protecting Immigrants from ICE Enforcement, California Primary Care Association.
- Warrants and Subpoenas: What to Look Out For and How to Respond, NILC, 2020.