HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) -- The Trump administration is investigating Boston housing policies it claims are discriminatory.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) told Mayor Michelle Wu in a letter on Thursday that the city has allocated housing resources based on race and ethnicity, a "noxious" practice.
"As you are aware, the Trump Administration is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all Americans," Craig Trainor, assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, wrote. "At your office's direction, however, City officials have set out to smuggle 'racial equity into every layer of operations in City government,'"
Trainor was quoting Boston's webpage for racial justice, which says that the city is committed to eliminating inequality and racism's "legacy." Wu, who has not responded to The National News Desk's request for comment, has also pledged to reduce racial disparities through homeownership. She said in this year's housing policy outline that homes should be as "abundant" and "varied" as residents.
HUD accused the mayor of violating a 1968 law that prohibits discrimination in housing sales.
"The text of the Fair Housing Act is unmistakably focused on eliminating discrimination in the housing market and outlining the penalties for engaging in this kind of discrimination. In other words, fair housing is about equal access and the eradication of unlawful discrimination, not racial equity," Trainor wrote.
One of the objectives in Wu's policy outline is to expand government assistance for black, indigenous and other people of color who are making down payments to buy homes with low or average income. The mayor said many residents are barred from homeownership, which she called a "vital pathway to equity and intergenerational wealth."
"We can't meet the housing needs of families without meeting the housing needs of everyone in our community," the outline says.
HUD, referencing one of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's statements from a 2007 opinion, questioned Wu's ideas.
"The City's peculiar conception of fair housing calls to mind Justice Clarence Thomas's admonition: 'Indeed, if our history has taught us anything, it has taught us to beware of elites bearing racial theories,'" Trainor wrote.
He added that HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity may file a complaint against Boston for discrimination based on race, sex and ethnicity. The office can also refer the issue to the Department of Justice to enforce anti-discrimination laws, Trainor said. He noted HUD would request information from the city for its investigation within 10 days.