SCOOP: Secretary Scott Turner launches HUD hotline to protect Americans in public housing
Secretary Scott Turner traveled to Memphis to explain how HUD's new hotline will keep Americans safe in public housing.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. —
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is launching a hotline for Americans in public housing to “report criminals [and] illegal aliens,” wreaking havoc in public housing, which should be a “sanctuary” for low-income Americans, HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced Monday.
And Americans were Turner’s clear priority during his announcement: ”illegal aliens have no place in public housing,” he said, adding that they “usurp spots” from public housing that should support the American people.
“The hotline will allow residents of public housing to have their voices heard” so their homes can be safe, he said. The hotline will aid his efforts to “clean up our public housing so they can fulfill their function” for residents.
“We’re spearheading this hotline right here in Memphis, Tennessee,” Turner said. The new HUD hotline is part of President Donald Trump’s strategy to make cities safe again. Turner said his agency wants to “return[] power back to the people and the citizens of Memphis.”
“Public housing should be safe, we believe that, and that is our conviction,” he said. “A safe community starts with safe housing… we want to take good care of the most vulnerable people in our country.” Public housing to be filled with “peace and security…free from the horrors of violent crime,” he added.
Turner was joined in his announcement by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who traveled to Memphis with Turner and the Washington Reporter to celebrate the successes of Trump’s task force that succeeded in “mak[ing] Memphis safe again,” the Attorney General declared.
The duo was joined by Sens. Bill Hagerty (R., Tenn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.), Gov. Bill Lee (R., Tenn.), Rep. David Kustoff (R., Tenn.), as well as by Gady Serralta, the director of the United States Marshals Service (USMS), Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, and Tyreece Miller, the U.S. marshal for Tennessee.
HUD will work the Department of Justice on the hotline. Following Turner’s announcement , the group fed hundreds of members of the Memphis task force, thanking them for their work.
Prior to the dinner, which was sponsored in part by Todd Starnes, Turner — as he so often does — led the group in prayer.
“Lord, we thank you for the Memphis Safe Task Force,” Turner said. “For those that have come from far and near, for those that have chosen to serve, Father God, and to protect, and to make Memphis safe again.”