The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the kind of bill that is not supposed to exist anymore. It passed the Senate 85 to 5 and the House 358 to 32 - the most sweeping housing legislation in decades, carried by both parties. [1] Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, one of the five no votes, explained his objection on Fox News: "This is a bill that might touch a little bit of the middle classes, but it's going to go to a lot of people that are here illegally to build houses for them." [1]
The claim matters this week because the bill's fate is being decided this week. The President skipped the signing ceremony to pressure the Senate on an unrelated elections bill, reportedly dismissing the housing measure as "a yawn." [5] The constitutional ten-day clock runs out around July 10, and Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday: "If he doesn't, it's still law." [4] While the clock runs, the loudest description of the bill on the airwaves is one its own text contradicts.
What the law has said since 1980
Eligibility is not a gap the bill forgot to close. Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 - on the books for 46 years, codified at 42 U.S.C. 1436a - restricts HUD financial assistance to citizens and seven enumerated categories of lawful residents. Applicants must declare their status in writing, under penalty of perjury, and the declaration is verified with documentation. [2] The new bill does not amend that statute. PolitiFact searched the bill text and found the words alien, illegal immigrant, and undocumented do not appear anywhere in it. [1]
Where the money actually goes
The bill's new spending is a $200 million competitive grant program, and the applicants are local governments and tribes - not individuals of any immigration status. [1] A city hall applying for an infrastructure grant is the least cash-like pipeline the federal government runs: applications, awards, audits.
Tuberville's own Republican colleague from his own state said it plainly. "The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act appropriates zero dollars and maintains that illegal aliens are not eligible for HUD housing assistance," Sen. Katie Britt said. She added that the bill helps disabled veterans get housing assistance and preserves "housing access for more than 400,000 rural families." [3]
Data
| Senate yes | 85 votes |
|---|---|
| Senate no | 5 votes |
| House yes | 358 votes |
| House no | 32 votes |
The people written out of the frame
Every week the bill sits unsigned is a week of limbo for the people actually named in it: the 400,000 rural families whose housing access it preserves, the disabled veterans it helps house, the renters and first-time buyers in the programs it modernizes. [3] They are eligible; they have the paperwork; they are waiting on a signature. The people Tuberville warns about are barred by a statute older than the senator's political career, verified applicant by applicant, declaration by declaration. [2]
The correction is plain: no, the housing bill does not build houses for people here illegally. The law against that has been on the books since 1980, and this bill leaves it exactly where it stands. [1][2]
