No, the Biden administration isn’t paying rent for immigrants in the country illegally

A political action committee supporting former President Donald Trump’s reelection launched an ad that claims President Joe Biden is paying rent for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. 

The online video ad shows an actor playing the role of a Biden campaign worker on the phone with a voter. 

"Biden’s helping pay rent for newcomers to America," the supposed campaign worker says. The video then focuses on a script the campaign worker is reading, which partly says, "do not say immigrants."

"You mean illegal immigrants?" the supposed voter on the phone responds. "I’m struggling to pay my bills but Biden’s paying rent for illegals?" 

MAGA Inc.’s 30-second ad cites a Daily Mail article about Michigan’s Newcomer Rental Subsidy program, which the Office of Global Michigan runs under the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. The program provides certain eligible immigrants up to $500 per month in rental subsidies for up to a year. (The subsidies are directly provided to the landlords.) 

But federal funding for the program cannot be used to help people in the U.S. illegally, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told PolitiFact. 

The website for Michigan’s Newcomer Rental Subsidy program says beneficiaries "must have an eligible immigration status as defined by the Office of Refugee Resettlement," which is part of the U.S. Health and Human Services. 

This includes refugees, Ukrainians and Afghans allowed into the U.S. under humanitarian parole programs and asylees — people who have been granted asylum in its list. People in these categories are in the U.S. legally.

The Office of Global Michigan approves only residents who are in the country legally as determined by the federal government, said Jason Moon, communications director for Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity.

However, on its website, the Office of Global Michigan lists additional groups that are also eligible for the rental subsidies (these groups are not included in the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s eligibility list):

• Beneficiaries of a humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans: Every month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security allows up to 30,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S. legally under humanitarian parole. This official permission lets people live and work legally in the U.S. for up to two years.

• People with pending asylum applications: People who cross the U.S. border illegally and are apprehended by immigration officials can seek "defensive" asylum in immigration court. This means they are defending themselves against a formal deportation order and are trying to stay in the U.S. by getting asylum. But this isn’t a group that is eligible for Michigan’s program, the Office of Global Michigan told The Washington Post and the Detroit Free Press. This distinction isn’t mentioned on the state office’s website. And when PolitiFact asked the office for the information, a spokesperson pointed us to the other outlets’ articles.

People with "affirmative" asylum applications are the ones eligible for the rent assistance, the Detroit Free Press reported. People apply for asylum affirmatively when they are not in official deportation proceedings. 

Alex Pfeiffer, MAGA Inc.’s communications director, told PolitiFact that allowing people with pending asylum applications and with humanitarian parole to qualify for Michigan’s program is evidence that Biden is subsidizing the rent of people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Pfeiffer said the Department of Homeland Security said people allowed into the U.S. under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela parole program were considered "inadmissible" into the country. He referred to a DHS document responding to a House Committee on Homeland Security subpoena. 

The subpoena requested the number of parole program applicants who received a travel authorization, traveled to the U.S. and were found inadmissible at a port of entry. 

"All individuals paroled into the United States are, by definition, inadmissible" under the U.S. immigration system, including those paroled under the program for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela nationals, DHS said in its response to the House committee subpoena.

Featured Fact-check

Rick Scott

stated on May 4, 2024 in an X post

“Joe Biden flew hundreds of thousands of illegals into Florida last year.”

But that doesn’t mean that the parolees are here illegally. 

The immigration parole gives people who otherwise wouldn’t be allowed to enter permission to temporarily enter the U.S., said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. 

"People allowed into the U.S. through parole are legally entering, and they are allowed to stay for the parole period," Bush-Joseph said. "After that, they need to apply to renew their parole or for another status such as asylum."

Therefore, that beneficiaries of the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela humanitarian parole program qualify for the Michigan rental subsidy is not evidence that Biden is paying rent for immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

What about people with pending asylum applications?

Michigan’s program allows affirmative asylum seekers to apply for rent assistance.

Just because someone applied for affirmative asylum does not necessarily mean that person is in the U.S. legally, immigration law experts told PolitiFact. However, this alone isn’t evidence that Biden is subsidizing rent for immigrants in the U.S. illegally; that’s because federal funding cannot be used on asylum applicants.

Michigan’s program began in October 2023. So far, none of the 1,200 immigrants who have benefited have pending asylum applications or entered the U.S. under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela humanitarian parole program, according to data The Washington Post and the Detroit Free Press received from the Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. Most beneficiaries are refugees or Afghan arrivals. 

The Michigan agency did not share this data with PolitiFact but referred us to the other outlets’ reporting.

Federal and state dollars fund Michigan’s Newcomer Rental Subsidy program. Federal funding comes from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. State funding for the program comes from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority Housing and Community Development Fund.

The federal funds cannot be used on asylum seekers, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told PolitiFact.

We don’t have a breakdown of how Michigan’s agencies are using the federal money. But MAGA Inc.’s spokesperson also did not provide evidence proving that federal dollars were used to subsidize rents for people here illegally.

For decades, the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement has funded nonprofit and state-run assistance programs for eligible immigrants, such as refugees and asylees. These services include job training programs, English classes and child care.  

A White House spokesperson told PolitiFact there is no federal government program that provides rental assistance to asylum seekers. 

A MAGA Inc. ad, citing a Michigan rental subsidy program, claimed Biden is paying rent for immigrants illegally in the country.

A Michigan agency told PolitiFact that only people in the U.S. legally qualify for a rent assistance program that’s funded with state and federal money.

But a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told PolitiFact that federal funds cannot be used for people who entered the U.S. illegally, or who have pending asylum applications.  

Beneficiaries of a humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans are also eligible for the rent subsidies. But people under that program entered the U.S. legally.

No beneficiaries from that parole program or people with pending asylum applications have benefited from the rental subsidy program so far.

MAGA Inc. provided no evidence directly linking federal funds to rental assistance for people in the U.S. illegally.

We rate MAGA Inc.’s claim False. ​