Housing is a Human Right — It’s time for Congress to Act Like it is
By Representative Chuy Garcia
I called for an eviction moratorium at the beginning of the pandemic—if we enacted it earlier, many would still be alive.
We are rapidly approaching yet another horrific milestone in our battle with COVID-19: 500,000 Americans dead of the coronavirus. It’s hard to make sense of the fact that in a little under one year, we’ve lost more Americans to this virus than we did to World War II. And what’s even harder to come to grips with is the fact that were it not for the irresponsible policy choices of the Trump administration, hundreds of thousands of families across America could have been spared the loss of loved ones. In a new paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research about housing policy and its effects on COVID-19 mortalities, NBER found a staggering result: if a federal eviction moratorium had been in place between March and November 2020, NBER estimates America would have seen 41.7% fewer American deaths from COVID-19. In other words, a nationwide eviction moratorium last year could have prevented over 100,000 deaths.
President Biden has already taken swift steps to stop our nation’s bleeding by deploying a fleet of COVID-related executive actions, among them an executive order to extend the nationwide eviction moratorium until March 31st of this year. That’s a sorely needed step in the right direction — but for Americans that are hurting, it’s clear it’s not enough. As we continue to grapple with the Trump administration’s failures to take one of the biggest threats of our lifetimes seriously, we also must learn from their mistakes and take bold steps to secure housing for the millions of unhoused Americans who desperately need it and save lives.
That’s why I’ve called for an eviction moratorium since the beginning of the pandemic. Last year, I introduced the Protecting Renters from Evictions and Fees Act in Congress with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Barbara Lee to prevent landlords from filing evictions through the full length of the COVID-19 pandemic and to expand the portion of covered renters from the approximately 30% of renters protected by the CARES Act to 100% of renters. Our bill also prevents renters from accruing fees due to missed rent payments, so that renters don’t get hit with late rent payments once the moratorium is lifted. Since the CDC’s eviction moratorium does not prevent landlords from filing evictions, but rather prevents them from being carried out, it is critical that these protections stay in place throughout the pandemic. More than half of Chicagoans in my district are renters, and the majority are working-class people of color. They are some of the many Americans who have borne the brunt of this pandemic, and it’s why we must ensure that they and all Americans do not lose additional sleep worrying about making rent payments.
This pandemic did not create our nation’s current housing problems, but it did exacerbate them. In my neighborhood of La Villita on the southwest side of Chicago, too many families have never recovered from the 2008 housing crisis that resulted from Wall Street greed. Now, existing land-use policies are driving up rents and home prices—making too many neighborhoods out of reach for working and middle-income families. Gentrification in Logan Square, another neighborhood in my district, has priced out 20,000 Latinos and 10,000 African Americans in the last decade.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, 25% of renters nationwide had housing costs greater than half of their income. Families already living on the margins are now facing increased economic vulnerability due to COVID-19. Displaced families who are evicted can end up homeless or crowded into shared apartments with friends or family, increasing the risk of infections. Preventing evictions is not only integral to containing the spread of COVID-19, but for many it is a matter of life and death.
Throughout my career in public service, from working at a housing nonprofit in my neighborhood, to opposing housing discrimination as a member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, to serving as a member of Congress, I’ve seen first hand how important access to safe and affordable housing is. Housing insecurity affects every other aspect of a person’s life, from education to health to social and racial justice, and we’re seeing the effects of housing insecurity now more than ever. We must act boldly to ensure that every American can access the affordable housing they deserve. Housing is a human right— our government must act like it.
Congressman Chuy Garcia (@RepChuyGarcia) represents Illinois’ 4th Congressional District.