Should Ben Carson Roll Back Obama-Era Housing Segregation Rules?

What’s the story?

• Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced on Monday new changes to an Obama-era rule aimed at reducing segregation in housing policy.
• 2015’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule requires that if a local government receives HUD funding, they must develop detailed plans to combat discriminatory barriers in housing.
• Carson wants the AFFH rule to focus on minimizing housing regulations, giving more control to local jurisdictions, and encouraging “actions that increase housing choice…through greater housing supply.”

• The public is invited to comment on the proposed rule change here.

What are both sides saying?

• In a statement, Carson argued the previous administration’s AFFH rule “often dictated unworkable requirements” and “actually impeded the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing.” This resulted, he said, in “suffocating investment in some of our most distressed neighborhoods."

Carson added: "We do not have to abandon communities in need. Instead we believe we can craft a new, fairer rule that creates choices for quality housing across all communities.”

• Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) praised the move, saying in a statement:

"Secretary Carson’s work to rollback Obama's overreaching housing rule is a great step in the right direction. I look forward to seeing HUD completely rescind the utopian Obama regulation."

• But Sara Pratt, a former Obama official who helped develop AFFH, told NBC News the proposed rollback would allow communities to ignore long-standing barriers to fair housing and integration.
• "You're going back to communities willfully blinding themselves to patterns of segregation," said Pratt, whose law firm is representing a coalition of groups suing the Trump administration for its earlier efforts to suspend the rule.

"Without this rule, communities will not do the work to eliminate discrimination and segregation," Pratt added.

• John Henneberger, the co-director of Texas Housers - which supports Texans with low incomes in their efforts to secure affordable, fair housing- tweeted:

What do you think?

Do you agree with the rollback of the Fair Housing rule? Should the focus be on deregulation, not desegregation? Hit Take Action and tell your reps, then share your comments below.

And add your public comment here.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons)