Trump's $3 Billion Housing Cut Could Displace Thousands

This budget cut threatens to dismantle permanent housing programs. The measure could force many homeless people, including war veterans, to leave their permanent homes and move to temporary transitional housing.

HUD informed housing providers about this plan last year. Since then, authorities and residents have been desperately looking for alternatives. Advocates warn that housing facilities could be forced to evict current residents to take in new applicants.

A HUD spokesperson defended the initiative, claiming that some people in federally funded housing are exposed to illegal drugs and sex offenders. However, this justification has been widely criticized by homeless rights advocates.

The Trump administration shifted $3 billion away from permanent housing programs. Up to 170,000 people, including veterans who escaped homelessness, could lose their homes.

If the HUD plan is implemented, up to 170,000 homeless people across the United States, including many veterans, could face forced eviction. These individuals had found a home in the affected housing facilities.

A federal judge in Rhode Island managed to temporarily push back HUD's efforts as part of a lawsuit filed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and other advocacy groups.

Ann Oliva, executive director of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, stated that the organization is "just trying to protect people’s homes." She added, "HUD is trying to defund evidence-based, well-run programs across the country, permanent housing programs across the country, in favor of short-term interventions that don’t actually keep people housed over a long period of time."

Transitional housing provides shelter for a brief period, typically up to two years. Homeless advocates say that the average time spent in transitional housing tends to be much shorter, in some cases, only a few months, with many residents returning to the streets.

Jayson Carter, a Vietnam War veteran who struggles with neurological issues and end-stage renal disease, stays in a housing facility in Memphis, Tennessee. In a conversation with CNN, he revealed that his health challenges will make the situation even more difficult. "It would be disastrous. I’d be back on the street in my old Buick with no air conditioning," Carter said.

Carter is among more than two dozen veterans at facilities run by the nonprofit Alpha Omega Veterans Services who fear being evicted. Al Edwards, the executive director, who runs three housing facilities for the Alpha Omega organization, expressed concern that he will have no choice but to evict at least 30 veterans in the coming weeks. He revealed to CNN: "I will definitely have to evict everyone. I have cried tears about this. This has been the most stressful period of my life".