Latino Families Face Housing Discrimination In California

So get this, in some cities outside of Los Angeles there is an active, funded, pointed campaign to harass Latino and African-American families who receive Section 8 housing subsidies to prevent “fraud.” Where have I heard this one before….? Oh yeah! Voter fraud, you know, because, what, it happens all the time?

An excerpt from The New York Times noted:

…civil rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit accusing Lancaster and neighboring Palmdale of unfairly singling out Latino and black residents who use Section 8 vouchers to help pay rent. The residents, they say, face unannounced visits from sheriff’s deputies and county housing agents, as well as aggressive surveillance from neighbors. The investigations, the lawsuit charges, are thinly veiled efforts to have the residents’ vouchers revoked…

In 2004, Lancaster and Palmdale hired additional investigators from the Los Angeles County Housing Authority to look into suspected violators, splitting the cost with the county as law enforcement officials scoured homes for drugs or, more commonly, extra tenants. Mr. Parris said he wanted to make it simpler for neighbors to complain about residents who were not keeping up their homes, leaving garbage cans on the street or hanging laundry on the front lawn.

This is even more terrible if you take into account what we reported previously — that Latino families were the hardest hit in the recession, losing 66% of their wealth largely because of their investment in housing.

So it breaks down like this: these Latino families invested in housing, lost bigger than anybody, and then when they do try to make it with help from Section 8, they are harassed by their neighbors and police (not to mention “representatives” in local government). Times are tough, but they certainly seem to be more tough for some in particular. Thanks to Erick for the tip.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD.