Video Exposes Tacoma Housing Project For Illegal Aliens and Refugees- Fiction!

Video Exposes Tacoma Housing Project For Illegal Aliens and Refugees- Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor:
This is a YouTube video called ELABORATE WELFARE HOUSING PROJECT that shows the Salisham development project in Tacoma, Washington. The producer of the video alleges that this project of 1325 homes was built with funds from the Social Security budget for Illegal Immigrants and refugees. He also alleges that refugees get $2642 per month in SSI benefits, plus Food Stamps along with Section 8 housing.

The Truth:
The allegations in the video are "a stew of untruths" according to a July 26, 2011 article in Tacoma's News Tribune, which debunked the video commentary produced by Dr. William B. Mount. Mount, a resident of Tacoma, posted the video on the popular video sharing site YouTube back in February and it went viral by mid July.

The News Tribune performed a fact check with the Tacoma Housing Authority and reported that 97% of the residents in this Salisham community are U.S. Citizens. They also found that Mount used figures from a 2000 census to base his income claims for that area. The Tacoma Housing Authority told the News Tribune that the $225 million project funds did not come from the Social Security budget, as Mount had claimed, but from a combination of public and private funds from investors at a ratio of $1 to $1.73 to furnish capital needed for the residential construction.

One of the claims in Dr. Mount's commentary is that refugees in U.S. are paid $2642 per month. TruthOrFiction.Com investigated this eRumor and found that there is no such policy in the U.S. that grants such a large amount to refugees. This myth actually originated from an editorial about a Canadian policy to help refugees entering Canada. Click here for findings.

updated 7/27/11

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet: