Immigration authorities are demanding that landlords turn over leases, rental applications, forwarding addresses, identification cards and other information on their tenants, a sign that the Trump administration is targeting them to assist in their drive for mass deportations.
Eric Teusink, an Atlanta-area real estate attorney, said several clients recently received subpoenas asking for entire files on tenants. A rental application can include work history, marital status and family relationships.
The two-page “information enforcement subpoena,” which Teusink shared exclusively with The Associated Press, also asks for information on other people who lived with the tenant. One, dated May 1, is signed by an officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ anti-fraud unit. However, it is not signed by a judge.
It is unclear how widely the subpoenas were issued, but they could signal a new front in the administration’s efforts to locate people who are in the country illegally, many of whom were required to give authorities their U.S. addresses as a condition for initially entering the country without a visa. President Donald Trump largely ended temporary status for people who were allowed in the country under his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Experts question whether landlords need to comply
Some legal experts and property managers say the demands pose serious legal questions because they are not signed by a judge and that, if landlords comply, they might risk violating the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.
Critics also say landlords are likely to feel intimidated into complying with something that a judge hasn’t ordered, all while the person whose information is being requested may never know that their private records are in the hands of immigration authorities.
“The danger here is overcompliance,” said Stacy Seicshnaydre, a Tulane University law professor who studies housing law. “Just because a landlord gets a subpoena, doesn’t mean it’s a legitimate request.”
