WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s Housing Subcommittee, has helped secure full eligibility for Dreamers to obtain Federal Housing Authority (FHA) mortgages after the Trump Administration rescinded its prohibition in one of its last actions before leaving office.

This was an issue the senator had continually pressed upon outgoing Housing Secretary Ben Carson to remedy.“FHA had no right to arbitrarily deny hardworking Dreamers home loans and the dream of homeownership,” said Sen. Menendez.  “I made sure Secretary Carson understood I wouldn’t stop fighting until this discriminatory policy ended.  I am proud that, today, it finally happened.  And I am committed to ensuring protections against such discrimination is codified into law so that it will never happen again.”

Sen. Menendez was the lead sponsor of the Homeownership for Dreamers Act, introduced in the last Congress, which clarifies under law that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients—also known as Dreamers—cannot be denied mortgage loans backed by the FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) solely because of their immigration status.

The Homeownership for Dreamers Act is included in the Biden-Harris Administration’s bold immigration plan that Sen. Menendez will lead in the Congress to ensure future administrations cannot construct discriminatory roadblocks to homeownership for Dreamers.

Sen. Menendez requested the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) open an investigation into whether the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in its decision to change the agency’s policy to deny FHA-backed loans to DACA recipients.  A review has been initiated.