Perhaps when you’ve finished digesting this story you could explain to me precisely when we reached the point where this was even up for debate.

Chuck Grassley had some tough questions for HUD Secretary Julian Castro last week which had to do with our policy toward allowing known fugitives and criminals to live in taxpayer funded public housing. If you’re anything like me you’re probably scratching your head right about now. If these individuals are wanted by the police and should be in prison, how is that we’re not simply stopping by to pay them a visit with some shiny new bracelets rather than debating who is paying their rent? According to reporting first brought to light by The Daily Caller News Foundation, that’s not at all clear in some cities.

“It is essential that the federal government ensures the safety and security of public housing residents against fugitive felons and other such predators,” Grassley wrote to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro Friday. More than 1,300 felony fugitives were found living in public housing in one HUD region in 2012, but local authorities refused to kick them out, The Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively reported July 26, 2016. Those residents were wanted for crimes ranging from felony theft to rape and murder. Grassley cited TheDCNF story in his letter to Castro. The HUD Inspector General (IG) report that unveiled the fugitives was unreleased because of “questions about the validity of the data,” IG spokesman Darryl Madden told TheDCNF, though he declined to provide specific details.

It seems that public housing authorities in various cities were informed by HUD that it was up to their “individual discretion” as to whether or not they needed to evict the felons or allow them to remain in their apartments. In patiently trying to explain this to Castro, Grassley informed him that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 specifically forbids fugitive felons or parole violators living in public housing. But hey… why let a little thing like federal law get in the way of White House policy?

Still, shouldn’t this have been a no brainer even for the most vocal Social Justice Warrior? I’m sure they could come up with any number of explanations about how this is racist or what have you, but we’re not talking about being “fair” to the felons who might otherwise find themselves homeless here. There are many other low income people living in public housing and the government owes them at least a modicum of effort to ensure their safety. Not having them sharing their living spaces with a bunch of potentially violent fugitives roaming the halls seems like the least we could do.

Observing the directives coming from the Obama administration over the past seven years has become a surreal experience. This is only the latest in a long list of policies which seem to be reshaping America in line with a new level of political correctness which would have been viewed as lunacy in a more sane era.