In 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the Obama administration, issued legislation intended to bolster the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, a decades-old law designed to combat segregation across the country. The new, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, required cities and towns that receive federal funding to examine their local housing patterns for racial bias and to design a plan to address any measurable bias.

However, HUD announced last week, issuing a notice, that it is will be suspending enforcement of the AFFH, now giving cities until 2020 to submit their evaluations. The notice also states that the department will stop reviewing plans that have already been filed by cities. 

While the decision does not necessarily repeal the Obama-era legislation, fair housing experts believe the suspension effectively guts the ruling and significantly waters down the government's assessment tools for fair housing by delaying enforcement. Communities and cities seeking grant funding from HUD have been required since 2016 to complete comprehensive neighborhood segregation analyses. They will now, no-longer have to abide by the Obama-era rule while seeking funding. 

Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, who established the AFFH under Obama, took to twitter to criticize the move, writing that "in other words, they've gutted AFFH. It will be up to the next Administration to get this back on track." Seventy-six national civil rights, faith-based, affordable housing, and other organizations have also voiced their strong opposition, issuing a joint statement criticizing the Department of Housing and Urban Development's decision.

The HUD has stated that it remains committed to the AFFH ruling, and is delaying the deadline for submissions due to public feedback that the Assessment of Fair Housing tool for local governments "wasn't working well." That said, HUD Secretary Ben Carson has long been a vocal opponent of both the AFFH and the original, Fair Housing Act of 1968, referring to the government-led attempts at integration as failed social experiments.