The California Legislature passed a very controversial bill this week that would allow undocumented immigrants who are first-time homebuyers to receive up to $150,000 in taxpayer-backed home loans. This legislation, called the California Dream for All, is a terrible idea on so many levels. Not only would it incentivize more illegal immigration into the U.S., but this proposed program is eerily reminiscent of the subprime mortgage loans granted to unqualified borrowers in the early 2000s that led to the 2008 financial crisis.
Noting that “California Democrats love illegal immigration so much they offer many incentives for them to come here,” Republican State Rep. Bill Essayli asked his Assembly colleagues a rhetorical question: “Does it even mean anything to be a citizen anymore?” Apparently not.
It won’t surprise you to hear that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi loves the idea. During a Friday night interview with Bill Maher on his eponymous HBO show, Pelosi upped the ante. She called for amnesty for the millions of illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. Pelosi believes the American dream should be “available to more people.”
Maher, who appeared to be more than a little skeptical of the bill, said “giving government assistance to undocumented immigrants to buy houses, that’s kind of a different place than the Democratic Party used to be on immigration, is it not? I’m not saying that’s what the country is going to do, but that’s certainly where California is.”
“Let me just say immigration had always been a bipartisan issue. I refer you to – ” Pelosi replied.
Maher interrupted, “But not free houses.”
“Well, it’s not free housing,” she said, “It’s the American dream being available to more people. But understand this about immigration: The best speech on immigration was by President Ronald Reagan.”
She then paraphrased Reagan: “This is the last speech I will make as President of the United States. I want to communicate a message to the country I love.”
Pelosi continued, “And he talked about the Statue of Liberty and the beacon of hope it is to the world. And America was preeminent in the world because our door was always open. ‘And we will cease to be preeminent when we shut the door.’ Now I don’t do justice to the great communicator. Google it. It’s a fabulous speech.”
“And George Herbert Walker Bush continued in that respect for the diversity of America and the rest. And California is always in the lead. Maybe others will follow that lead, but that’s up to those states. But we are very blessed here with beautiful diversity.”
Looking incredulous, Maher asked, “So you’d vote for this law?”
Noting that she wasn’t familiar with exactly what the law entailed, Pelosi said, “Making the dream of home ownership available to all people is something we have to do for people who are here now.”
In an attempt to clarify what she was actually saying, Maher asked, “This is for the undocumented?”
In words that could not be misconstrued, Pelosi conveyed her meaning: “Well, what I would like to do is move them to documented.” Her remark triggered an enthusiastic round of applause from the audience.
“One of the best things that we can do for our economy,” she said, “is to pass comprehensive immigration reform.”
Democrats frequently cite Reagan’s farewell address from January 1989 during their calls for mass amnesty. And throughout his presidency, Reagan did indeed call for the millions of “illegal immigrants” in the U.S. to be given recognition and a path to legal status.
Democrats point to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, legislation that allowed illegal immigrants who had “entered the U.S. before Jan. 1, 1982 to apply for legal status, provided they paid fines and back taxes. This provision — which Reagan himself referred to as ‘amnesty,’ allowed around 3 million immigrants to secure legal status after paying $185, demonstrating ‘good moral character’ and learning to speak English.”
But, as Peter M. Robinson, a former Reagan speechwriter and a Hoover Institution fellow, explained, “the grant of amnesty represented only one aspect of the 1986 legislation Reagan signed into law. The rest of the Immigration Reform and Control Act spelled out provisions—aggressive provisions—for bringing illegal immigration to an end.”
Robinson cited remarks from Edwin Meese III, who served as Reagan’s attorney general at the time the bill was signed. According to Meese, “The amnesty dealt with illegals who were already here. The rest of the ’86 act was intended to get control of the problem so we didn’t have any more coming in. … The government didn’t do what was necessary to support the enforcement mechanisms in the ’86 act.”
Democrats are cherry picking Reagan’s statements on immigration and leaving out the inconvenient ones. As Robinson notes, Reagan “never envisioned immigration as chaotic or ungoverned. The fate of the Immigration Reform and Control Act would have infuriated him.”
At the end of the day, Democrats are trying to import a whole new bloc of future Democratic voters they can count on to cement their grip on power. And the California Dream for All loan program is merely the latest incentive to encourage illegals to come to America.
The party’s nonstop efforts to put undocumented illegals ahead of U.S. citizens is starting to grate. This program won’t end well.
For now, it is just one more reason for residents of California to flee the state.
Elizabeth writes commentary for The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a member of the Editorial Board at The Sixteenth Council, a London think tank. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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