In late February, the federal government abruptly cut funding to dozens of organizations that fight housing discrimination across the country, threatening their survival and dealing a setback to civil rights enforcement efforts in the United States, fair housing advocates say.
More than 160 groups nationwide rely on federal funding to investigate and file complaints on behalf of people who think they have been denied housing because of disability, race, sex, national origin, religion or because they have children. In some states, including California, fair housing organizations also represent people who suspect they have been discriminated against because they pay rent with government housing assistance, like Section 8 vouchers.
