By The Signal Editorial Board
The Democrat supermajority in Sacramento wants to help illegal immigrants buy houses — and stick taxpayers with the tab.
That’s not an exaggeration. Here’s why.
Suppose you raised your children in the Santa Clarita Valley. They are all grown up, starting their adult lives and deciding whether to pursue their life goals here, where they grew up, or somewhere else. There’s already a great chance they will choose “somewhere else.” And not just “somewhere else” outside the SCV. It’s very likely to be outside California.
Now, the state — with the support of the SCV’s Assembly representative, Pilar Schiavo — is poised to make it even harder for your kids to live here. The Legislature has approved Assembly Bill 1840, which would expand the California Dream for All Shared Appreciation loan program, a down payment assistance program for first-time homebuyers.
The expansion?
It would extend the program to illegal immigrants.
Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, who represents most of the SCV, voted in favor of the bill when it passed the Assembly in May, sending the clear message that she values the support of illegal border crossers more than she values your kids who can’t afford to live here. The assemblywoman did not record a vote on the final amended version of the bill that went back to the Assembly on Wednesday after Senate approval the previous day. But the message was already sent.
In contrast, Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, voted against the bill twice — once in the Senate Judiciary Committee and again when it reached the Senate floor. We appreciate the senator pushing back against California’s one-party rule.
The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom, and if the governor signs it, California citizens and legal immigrants who were already on the short end of a lottery system for the home-buying assistance will see their odds decrease even further, as AB 1840 makes illegal immigrants eligible for the program, too.
As it is, the program only helps a small percentage of eligible recipients: According to a June statement from Newsom’s office, 1,700 Californians received grants from the program out of 18,000 people who applied this year. Eligible applicants are put into a randomized draw by the Housing Finance Agency.
The bill states that applicants who otherwise qualify shall not be disqualified based on immigration status, allowing illegal immigrants to receive up to 20% in down payment assistance of up to $150,000 — enough to plunk down on a $750,000 house.
Says the bill’s author: “Home ownership is a fundamental tool for wealth building, as it fosters financial stability and provides a tangible investment in one’s future. When undocumented individuals are excluded from such programs, they miss out on a crucial method of securing financial security and personal stability for themselves and their families.”
Yes, that’s correct: Home ownership IS a fundamental tool for wealth building. And Arambula and the rest of the Democrat supermajority in Sacramento have made clear that it’s more important to them to give that tool to illegal immigrants than it is to make sure it’s available to as many U.S. citizens and legal immigrants as possible.
Governing, a lot of the time, is about establishing priorities. The supermajority in Sacramento is showing you where its priorities are — and if you’re a citizen or a legal immigrant, they are not prioritizing you, or your kids.
The Democrat supermajority in Sacramento has a habit of forgetting the expression that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. This isn’t “free” money. We all pay the bill.
Sacramento Republicans who opposed the bill have said the measure — at a time when California is struggling with a multibillion-dollar deficit, and budget cuts to numerous housing and homelessness programs — could worsen the situation.
“Many second, third, and fourth generation Californians can’t afford to buy a house in their home state thanks to record unaffordability under Democrat rule,” California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, said in a Monday statement. “With many legal residents not able to afford a home, should we really be giving free cash to illegal immigrants? Every dollar that goes to an illegal immigrant is one less dollar available to legal residents including veterans, teachers and families.”
Exactly.
The bill reminds us of the video that went viral recently on social media: A woman who had scrimped and saved for years to buy her first food truck decided to sell it. The buyer, she said, speaking tearfully, turned out to be an illegal immigrant who was getting government assistance to make the purchase.
She was struck by the unfairness of it all: She worked hard. She saved. She accomplished her goal. And an illegal immigrant gets a shortcut with taxpayer money.
Nationally and in California, from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris all the way down to your local assemblywoman, Democrats have spent the past several years rolling out the red carpet for illegal immigrants, without due regard to issues such as public safety, drug smuggling, human trafficking or even just basic fairness to citizens and immigrants who followed the rules and came here legally.
That’s the state of things in California and frankly anywhere the Democratic Party rules: So eager to provide benefits like free health care, business assistance and now even a down payment on a house, they are thumbing their noses at the citizens and legal immigrants they are supposed to represent.
They’re more concerned about courting California’s approximately 2 million illegal immigrants, a massive potential voting block. For the Democrats in Sacramento, they matter more than you do.
AB 1840 is one of those bills that sound so outrageous and off the wall that your first reaction might be to think it’s fiction.
It’s not. It’s real. And unless Newsom vetoes it, AB 1840 will stand as an insult to every citizen, taxpayer and legal immigrant who plays by the rules.
