Thread: Look!!! 1986 New York Law

CITY TO EVICT ILLEGAL ALIENS FROM PUBLIC HOUSING
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By SUZANNE DALEY
Published: April 9, 1986

New York City will seek out and evict illegal aliens from public housing in compliance with new Federal rules, Mayor Koch said yesterday.

But the chairman of the city's Housing Authority, Emanuel P. Popolizio, called the rules inhumane and said they would eventually increase the ranks of the city's homeless and cost the public more money.

''I will carry out the law,'' Mr. Popolizio said. ''But more thought ought to go into this. The ultimate result will be more people on the streets who will probably fall into the homeless sector and have to be taken care of anyway.''

Mr. Popolizio also said the aliens would not be reported to the Government. Koch Calls for Compassion

In a statement, Mayor Koch said he hoped that the Federal Government would be ''compassionate and not require that persons currently living in an authority apartment who have done so for some reasonable period of time be evicted.''

Mr. Popolizio said that he would seek an amendment to the Federal regulations that would exempt longtime residents, but that such a change would ''not be easy to get.''

In the meantime, he said, he will enforce the rule when it goes into effect July 30. Because of various review and appeals processes, he said, the first evictions will probably not occur until next spring.

If the city does not abide by the rule, it could lose up to $400 million in Federal housing aid. Yearly Meetings With Tenants

Under the regulations, the city, which has never sought to evict illegal aliens, will start demanding proof of citizenship at yearly meetings with the occupants. Currently those meetings are used to make sure a tenant still meets financial eligibility rules.

A spokesman for the agency, Val Coleman, said the authority did not know how many of its 600,000 tenants were illegal immigrants, but called the number ''substantial.''

''It's the nature of the city,'' Mr. Coleman said.

Since 1984, when Federal regulations demanded the change, the city has not allowed illegal aliens to move into its 175,000 units of public housing. But before that date, the city did not inquire about citizenship. Because of this, Mr. Popolizio said, tenants who moved in before then should be exempted. Citing 'Due Process'

''We allowed these people to go in and now almost by fiat we're stripping them of even the minimum requirements of due process,'' he said.''

Last October, Mayor Koch assailed the Federal Government, saying it had allowed illegal immigrants into the city and then refused to share the cost of providing services for them. At the time, he instructed his agencies not to report illegal aliens unless they were involved in a criminal act.

The Federal Government ordered the evictions last week, saying that scarce housing assistance resources should be reserved for ''persons with the most legitimate claim.''

Under the new Federal regulations, a tenant can ''support a claim'' of citizenship by submitting a United States passport, a birth certificate, a naturalization certificate, a baptismal certificate showing place of birth or ''any other document designated by the Federal Government.''

So, what happened? Underenforcement... no enforcement?

I'm still looking for followup articles on it. Will post them if I can find them.

"Since 1984, when Federal regulations demanded the change, the city has not allowed illegal aliens to move into its 175,000 units of public housing. But before that date, the city did not inquire about citizenship. Because of this, Mr. Popolizio said, tenants who moved in before then should be exempted. Citing 'Due Process'

''We allowed these people to go in and now almost by fiat we're stripping them of even the minimum requirements of due process,'' he said.''


Due process? What nonsense. These people intentionally violated our laws. Their mere presence here is illegal. The remedy is for them to leave the country. How is kicking them out of their publicly subsidized apartment a violation of due process?

It never ceases to amaze me how administrators, politicians, support groups and bleeding hearts rush to ascribe LEGAL rights from U.S. laws to ILLEGAL aliens. I have never understood this mindset and I will never accept it. As far as I'm concerned, illegal aliens have basic human rights that are ascribed to all people everywhere BUT they have no legal rights in this country.

How many needy people, who qualify, are unable to get in because the property is taken by illegal aliens? That is criminal!!

Hey, guys, take a look at the article I just put in Dixie's Sticky for Enforcement.