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LANCASTER, CALIF.–The town of Lancaster, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles, is under investigation for allegedly discriminating against Black and Latino renters who use Section 8 vouchers to pay their rent. According to reports, residents claim they’re being unjustly surveilled by neighbors and harassed with unannounced visits by sheriff’s deputies and county housing agents.

At the same time, housing authority officials are working to weed out Section 8 abusers who are selling drugs out of their homes, housing extra residents and bringing crime from the big city to these quaint suburban enclaves.

Lancaster’s Mayor R. Rex Paris has said for years that the area is treated as a “dumping grounds” for L.A.’s poor.

Mr. Parris has repeatedly said that Lancaster should be “waging a war” against the Section 8 program, which provides housing vouchers to low-income families, because there are disproportionately more recipients living in the area than in the rest of the county.

Read more at NYTimes

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