The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched an investigation into Boston’s alleged housing discrimination, saying the city uses DEI practices to favor Black and Latino residents in violation of federal civil rights protections.

Craig Trainor, assistant secretary of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, notified Boston Mayor Michelle Wu of the investigation into the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion housing practices — which the Trump administration believes to be a violation of the Fair Housing Act, a federal anti-discrimination law — in a Thursday letter.

“We believe the City of Boston has engaged in a social engineering project that intentionally advances discriminatory housing policies driven by an ideological commitment to DEI rather than merit or need,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a statement. “HUD is committed to protecting every American’s civil rights and will thoroughly investigate the city’s stated goal of ‘integrating racial equity into every layer of city government.’

“This warped mentality will be fully exposed, and Boston will come into full compliance with federal anti-discrimination law,” Turner added.

Trainor’s letter to the mayor highlights several examples of what HUD referred to as the city’s “racially discriminatory housing plan.”

“The city has been very public about its intention to discriminate on the basis of race, while essentially claiming that social justice and racial equity concerns purify its intentions,” Trainor wrote.

He mentions that the city’s fair housing assessment promises to “target homebuyer outreach” at Black and Latinx families. The assessment tasked the mayor’s office of housing, the Boston Planning Department and Boston Housing Authority with collecting racial and ethnic data “to evaluate their work through a racial and social lens,” per Trainor’s letter.

Trainor also hits on the city’s racial and sex-based quotas. He cited the Boston Housing Strategy 2025, which announced that “at least 65% of opportunities to buy homes through City of Boston initiatives” should go to BIPOC households, a term that refers to Black, indigenous, or people of color, his letter states.

HUD’s interpretation of the city’s policy is that financial housing assistance is not just for all low-income people, but rather, specifically targeted to people of color.

“No person or entity — the City of Boston included — is permitted to violate civil rights protections in the name of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI),” Trainor wrote. “The Trump administration is dedicated to protecting the civil rights of all Americans.

“At your office’s direction, however, city officials have set out to smuggle ‘racial equity into every layer of city government.’ To this dubious end, the City of Boston has developed and intends to implement discriminatory housing practices in violation of the Fair Housing Act.”

Related Articles

Boston sued by Judicial Watch for withholding public records tied to Mayor Wu’s pro-immigration rally

Boston City Council backs calls for Mayor Michelle Wu to provide updated cost for White Stadium

Boston City Council votes to set tax rates, homeowners to see 13% tax increase

Boston city councilor demands White Stadium cost update from mayor amid budget crunch

Boston Mayor Wu’s tax battle intensifies ahead of City Council vote to set residential tax hike at 13%

The launch of the federal investigation follows HUD’s Sept. 18 letter to Boston Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon, notifying the city that the feds had reason to believe it was using HUD grant assistance in violation of its legal obligations, which prohibit race-based preferences, HUD officials said on Thursday.

Trainor warned that HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity upon completion of its investigation may choose to file a complaint against the city for discrimination based on race, sex and national origin under federal statutes.

Should HUD find that the city has or intends to violate the civil rights of its citizens, it can file charges or refer the matter to the U.S. Department of Justice for enforcement, his letter states.

Mayor Wu’s office hit back in a statement on Friday.

“Boston will never abandon our commitment to fair and affordable housing,” a city spokesperson said, “and we will defend our progress to keep Bostonians in their homes against these unhinged attacks from Washington.”

This is a developing story …