California residents are reacting angrily to revelations that migrants who entered the U.S. illegally will soon be able to take advantage of a taxpayer-funded state program to help poor residents buy homes.
Democrats on the California Senate Budget Committee have approved a bill to open the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan program to illegal immigrants.
The scheme was launched last year and has already provided thousands of first home buyers with a loan of up to 20 per cent of the purchase price of the home, towards a down payment or closing costs.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond said the bill was a waste of taxpayer money.
“California has once again chosen to prioritize illegal immigration and financial irresponsibility over the needs of its citizens,” Desmond wrote on X.
Illegal immigrants could soon qualify for tax-financed home purchase assistance in California
According to estimates from the Pew Research Center, California is home to nearly 2 million irregular and illegal migrants.
“Expanding this program to illegal immigrants is not just a perk, it is a massive overreach of the financial burden placed on law-abiding taxpayers.”
Golden State residents and others took to social media to call the plan “insane,” “nonsense” and “evil.”
One critic called for a “taxpayer revolt,” while another argued the money would be better spent on “homeless veterans.”
The amended bill AB1840 has already passed the General Assembly and will be voted on in the Democratic-led Senate.
Then it landed on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The taxpayer-funded scheme is hugely popular in a state where the average single-family home costs a whopping $904,000.
The loans are intended for people who would otherwise not be able to buy a home. They are interest-free and no monthly payments are required.
When the mortgage is refinanced or the home is resold, on the other hand, the borrower pays back the original loan amount plus 20 percent of the home’s increased value.
When applications for the $300 million program opened in May 2023 for about 2,300 first-time homebuyers, the funds were exhausted within two weeks, the LA Times reported.
California officials later tightened the program’s rules by requiring that at least one of the applicants be a first-generation homebuyer. They also introduced a lottery to select recipients.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond said the bill was a waste of taxpayer money.
The California Senate Budget Committee approved the bill last week.
Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, a Democrat from Fresno, introduced a bill in January to extend the program to undocumented immigrants.
The amendment changes the program to state that applicants “shall not be disqualified by the agency solely on the basis of the applicant’s immigration status.”
According to estimates from the Pew Research Center, there are 1.85 million undocumented migrants in California.
“Home ownership has traditionally been the primary way of building generational wealth in the United States,” Arambula told the LA Times earlier this year.
“The social and economic benefits of home ownership should be available to everyone.”
While the scheme requires loans to be repaid when the property is sold or the mortgage is extended, it is unclear to what extent extending it to illegal migrants will increase the number of applicants and running costs.
California has been struggling with a budget deficit for years. Newsom signed a budget deal last month to close an estimated $46.8 billion deficit through $16 billion in spending cuts and higher taxes on some businesses.