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Immigrants must prove they're here legally and have the right to work in the United States before they receive low-cost homes through Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, the nonprofit organization has decided.The organization's board of directors voted to adopt the rules this month, executive director Dwayne Spencer said Tuesday.The decision wasn't based on concern about community reaction, he said."I think after simply delving into the subject matter ourselves, we realized it was the most responsible thing to do," he said.The action ends uncertainty over Habitat's approach to the area's growing Hispanic population. Spencer said Habitat now plans to hold more recruiting events for Hispanics.Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that uses donated labor and materials to build homes for the working poor. The recipients of the homes must contribute money and labor.An overwhelming majority of Habitat's clients in Memphis are African-American. In February, Memphis Habitat joined the Hispanic Business Alliance to plan Habitat's first event to encourage Spanish-speakers to apply for the homes.Several people attending the meeting at St. Paul Catholic Church filled out preliminary applications, the first step in a lengthy screening process. But at the time, the organization hadn't decided how to handle the question of immigration status.Spencer said some citizens sent him e-mail messages after The Commercial Appeal wrote about the issue.And some immigrants at the church asked how the nonprofit group would handle questions of immigration status, said Micheal Clark, Habitat's local director of family services.He said he didn't know how many of those who filled out preliminary applications were here illegally."We realized we may have done that prematurely without some sort of stance on the immigration issue," Spencer said.Atlanta-based Habitat for Humanity leaves decisions on immigration status to its affiliates around the nation. The Memphis board talked with other affiliates and chose to base its guidelines on the Federal Housing Administration's rules for mortgage insurance.The rules adopted by the Memphis organization say that immigrants must have a valid Social Security number and authorization to work in the United States. The organization will check the documents with the federal government.Other Habitat affiliates have adopted similar rules. For instance, the Dallas organization requires that recipients of the homes be legal immigrants or citizens, said spokeswoman Connie Boyd.The New York City organization doesn't have an official policy on immigration status, but the long list of documents required would likely block illegal immigrants, said spokeswoman Beverly Cheuvront.The issue of immigration status arises because a substantial number of immigrants in the Memphis area are here illegally.The Census Bureau estimated that there were 34,000 Hispanics in Shelby County in 2006. Most are immigrants from Mexico and Central America.There is no solid data on what proportion are here illegally, but a study by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation concluded that half of all immigrants in Arkansas don't have legal status. Interviews in the Memphis area suggest a similar percentage.Contact Daniel Connolly at 529-5296.New regulationsHabitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis has made the following new rules:Habitat will accept applications from permanent and nonpermanent immigrants who have a valid Social Security number.Evidence of residency and work status will be verified with the federal government.
