Housing & the Children of Noncitizen Parents

We met Adelina in Venice a couple of weeks ago. She and her mother were asking for money to cover the cost of groceries for her and her children. We were able to cover the cost of groceries, infant formula, wipes and other toiletries, as well as a full tank of gas for their minivan.

But through the course of our shopping it became clear that what they needed most urgently was money to cover the cost of rent. I wish we were in the position to offer assistance of this magnitude, but right now it’s beyond the scope of the funds we have available.

You don’t need to be an expert to know there’s a problem when a family with seven children is at extremely high risk of eviction. It was only after I met with Adelina that understood just how broken that system is. Adelina and her mother are from Italy, and from what I could gather, seven of their nine family members are “unauthorized immigrants.” This poses a serious problem when it comes to eligibility for Section 8 housing, where benefits are prorated by reducing the benefit by the proportion of ineligible noncitizens in the household. In Adelina’s case, her family would be eligible for just 2/9 of the amount a citizen head of household would receive (in rural areas she would receive no benefit at all). Even with the full amount of the benefit, finding housing that accepts Section 8 is a herculean task. Finding a landlord that will accept 2/9 of a benefit is all but impossible.