The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General is conducting an audit of the Chicago Housing Authority to scrutinize its procedures around verifying residents’ immigration status and criminal backgrounds, according to documents obtained by the Sun-Times.
“The objective of our audit is to (1) determine whether the Authority complied with HUD’s and its own requirements for verifying eligibility of individuals for HUD assisted housing based on criminal activity, citizenship, and immigration status, and (2) assess the Authority’s practices for preventing and addressing criminal activity,” the audit notice said.
The letter, addressed to CHA Interim Operating Chairman Matthew Brewer, was dated Sept. 15 and sent by Kilah White, HUD’s assistant inspector general for audit.
HUD spokesperson Matthew Maley said in a statement that HUD Secretary Scott Turner told public housing authorities earlier this year of “our intent to fully carry out the law and do all in HUD’s power to ensure no illegals or ineligibles are receiving HUD assistance. To that end, we are using all resources to audit PHAs across the country to ensure only eligible families receive assistance, including on the ground investigations like that going on in Chicago.”
The CHA didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The CHA is one of a handful of housing authorities, including the District of Columbia Housing Authority, being audited, according to a HUD official familiar with the proceedings who was not authorized to speak on the record.
In August, Turner posted a video on X of his Fox News interview, where he said his agency had notified the District of Columbia Housing Authority it had 30 days to turn over information regarding the citizenship status of its residents.
“We are telling the same to the more than 3,000 Public Housing Authorities across the country,” Turner wrote in the post.
He also said in the video that HUD is collecting data to ensure “no one doing criminal activity is living in HUD-funded housing.”
Maley said in his statement that “HUD is taking bold action to restore law and order to ensure that public housing is safe housing.”
The CHA’s audit is another effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to crack down on immigration and criminal activity in Chicago and other Democratic cities across the country.
The CHA has also had to manage submitting a budget that follows Trump’s executive orders, such as those banning diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The housing authority sued HUD in October over the issue but withdrew the lawsuit after HUD granted the CHA an extension for its submission.
Last week, HUD notified Boston Mayor Michelle Wu the federal agency was opening an investigation into that city’s “housing policies, practices, and programs,” saying Wu’s administration was violating the Fair Housing Act by setting “out to smuggle ‘racial equity into every layer of operations in City government,’” citing the city’s equity and inclusion team’s mission.
The CHA’s audit will cover the period of Sept. 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2025, the notice said. HUD planned to start its work immediately, White said.
Records show the CHA met with HUD on Dec. 3 to discuss the nature and scope of the review and for HUD to answer questions.
In the audit notice, HUD requested the following information be made available to its senior auditor: “current and past investigative proceedings, legal proceedings, and any known instances of fraud related to the subject matter being reviewed …previous audits or other studies related to the audit objectives, full legal name and Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Unique Entity Identifier (UEl) as applicable.”
The CHA is the third-largest housing authority in the country and has a budget of over $1 billion. The agency serves more than 65,000 households and is the largest single owner of rental housing in Chicago.