Fair housing rights do not enforce themselves. They depend on someone answering the telephone when a family believes a landlord rejected them because of their race. They depend on trained investigators testing whether disabled applicants receive the same treatment as everyone else. They depend on community organizations that know the neighborhoods, understand the law and can help ordinary people challenge discrimination.

President Trump has repeatedly promised to "make America affordable again." But for those Americans most in need, his administration's latest budget plan would dramatically shrink the federal rental aid that helps keep millions of people housed.