Exclusive: Jim Jordan and Tom McClintock Demand Answers on Taxpayer Funds Used for Housing Illegal Immigrants

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Immigration Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-CA) are demanding answers on the use of taxpayer dollars being used to house illegal aliens via Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to letters first obtained by Breitbart News.

The July 24 letters, addressed to Ms. Robin Dunn Marcos, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), and the Honorable Adrianne Todman, Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), lay out the plight of the American people, many of whom are struggling to achieve the dream of home ownership in the Biden-Harris economy. The lawmakers note that the Committee on the Judiciary is tasked, in part, with conducting oversight of the Biden-Harris administration’s “enforcement of federal immigration law and its implementation of policies that prioritize illegal aliens and refugees over U.S. citizens and other legal residents.”

“This oversight includes the Committee’s examination of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR),” the letters read, as Jordan and McClintock formally request information about HHS ORR’s coordination with both the State Department and HUD in relation to the use of taxpayer dollars footing the bill for housing not for the American people but for “refugees and other aliens.”

Jordan and McClintock lay out the stark reality of the Biden-Harris economy, citing one report asserting that the country is “‘short around 3.2 million homes,’ with insufficient housing ‘to keep up with the increase in households.'”

They also cited reports describing the housing market as the “toughest” in a generation, noting that half of renters in the U.S. are struggling to keep up with surging rent. All the while, the Biden-Harris administration continues to allow illegal immigrants to flood into the country — at least 5.3 million, according to the letters. The lawmakers also noted that there are at least 1.9 million “gotaways” — those who sneak into the country evading Border Patrol and law enforcement. Despite these stark realities, the Biden-Harris administration, the lawmakers continued, is “focused on funneling as many foreign nationals into the United States as possible, including with a refugee resettlement goal of 125,000 in fiscal year 2024 alone.”

All of these policies are making it far more difficult for Americans to achieve their dreams of home ownership — or at the very least, affordable housing costs — and it is a harder pill to swallow knowing that “HHS ORR works alongside HUD and the State Department to connect refugees and other aliens with housing assistance,” according to the letters.

The lawmakers continued:

While Americans struggle to buy homes and pay their rent, the Biden-Harris Administration has sought to ensure that refugees and other aliens can find affordable housing once they arrive in the United States. In fact, HHS ORR works alongside HUD and the State Department to connect refugees and other aliens with housing assistance. On its website, for example, HUD refers to refugees and other so-called “newcomer populations” as “new Americans” and describes its desire to allow these individuals to “find safe, permanent, and affordable housing by providing access to housing counseling and sharing important resources regarding HUD programs and services.” In August 2023, HUD and HHS ORR signed a memorandum of understanding “to facilitate equitable access to HUD-assisted resources for ORR-served populations through partnership, outreach, education  and technical assistance.”

The lawmakers also highlighted a briefing for Congressional staff from June 21, 2024, which featured a State Department official explaining that the “weak” job market and unaffordable housing have largely limited the current administration’s desires to bring over more refugees.

“Given the nation’s housing crisis posed by the failing Biden-Harris economy and the Biden-Harris Administration’s facilitation of additional alien entries into the country, the Committee is conducting oversight over HHS ORR’s apparent prioritization of refugees, parolees, and other aliens over U.S. citizens and other legal residents,” the letters read, as the lawmakers asked for documentation on five issues for the purpose of oversight of federal immigration policy. Those are as follows:

1. All documents and communications between or among HHS ORR and the State Department, HUD, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), or any of their component entities, referring or relating to housing assistance for refugees, parolees, and other aliens, for the period January 20, 2021, to the present;
2. All documents and communications between or among HHS ORR and the State Department, HUD, DHS, or any of their component entities, referring or relating to Church World Service’s Refugee Housing Solutions, including but not limited to all cooperative agreements and memoranda, for the period January 20, 2021, to the present;
3. All documents and communications between or among HHS ORR and Church World Service referring or relating to housing for refugees, parolees, and other aliens, for the period January 20, 2021, to the present;
4. The number of aliens, disaggregated by immigration status, that HHS ORR has referred to HUD for housing assistance, the number of aliens who have received housing assistance, and the amount of money spent on such referrals and assistance since January 20, 2021; and
5. HHS ORR’s eligibility criteria for referral to HUD and the receipt of housing assistance, including the categories of aliens for which such referral and assistance is available.

Jordan and McClintock give them a deadline of August 7, 2024, to answer those questions.

There are an estimated 17 million illegal immigrants living in American communities, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s (FAIR) annual report released last year. This costs American taxpayers roughly $163 billion annually. Further, about 99 percent of these border crossers are living freely in the U.S., as Breitbart News detailed:

Of those millions of illegal aliens and border crossers in the U.S., just about 1.34 percent are either in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention or monitored via the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP).

Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake is among those who have sounded the alarm over this issue, telling Breitbart News at the Republican National Convention last week that rent has doubled in many locations — another negative impact of illegal immigration directly affecting the American people.

“They [illegal immigrants] have to live somewhere, and the government’s putting them up — sometimes hotels, sometimes they’re giving them subsidies for apartments. Even if they’re not … we’re having to compete for those apartments with them,” she explained.

“And when you have only so much supply and you have so much demand, prices go up. That’s exactly why housing is unaffordable for young people,” she continued, explaining that many young people tell her they do not see a future where they can “own homes to have a backyard for dogs to run around and have the ability to get married, afford to be married with children.”

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M. Perdie, J. Knudsen / Breitbart News

“And it saddens them. They want that. They want that American dream,” Lake added.