Illegal Immigration And The Mortgage Mess

[Madame Vengier]

The discussion of illegal immigration makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Many people who speak out against it are punished by unfair and baseless attacks such as "bigot" and "racist". And then there are the numerous numbers of Catholics who even join in on the attacks, because they live in a fairy tale that illegal immigration is somehow right and good for America. Unfortunately, the ugly facts ruin their beautiful fantasy: illegal immigration hurts America. Period. And hey--guess what else? IT'S ILLEGAL. On top of the issue of our healthcare system, our educational system, and our legal system there is also the issue of our housing system--we are now witnessing the direct relationship between illegal immigration and the mortgage mess government bailout which is paid for by American taxpaper dollars. Michelle Malkin spells it out:
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Kill the bailout: Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess

By Michelle Malkin • September 24, 2008

My syndicated column today tackles the bailout angle no one wants to talk about: Open borders and the home loan debacle. You’ve heard a lot about Fannie/Freddie and the minority lending shakedowns, but you haven’t heard most commentators/analysts on either the left or the right talk about the massive illegal alien mortgage racket — a topic I’ve reported on for the past five years. That’s because fault lies at the feet of the crime-enabling banking industry and the ethnic lobbyists and the illegal alien-enabling Bush administration.

They [b][word deleted for semi-harsh language][/b] us. Now, they want us to fork over a trillion dollars.

[b][line deleted for semi-harsh language][/b]

Kill this bailout.

And I second Mark Krikorian: Credit is not a civil right. It’s not a civil right for illegal aliens. For foreign banks. For American banks. For anyone. The bailout proposal, as I noted earlier, now includes student loans and auto loan debt. Will our tax dollars next cover foreign student loan debts? Illegal alien in-state discounted college tuition debt? Where and when will it end?

Oh, but pardon me. I’m just being, you know, an ideological purist.
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[url="http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/24/illegal-immigration-and-the-mortgage-mess/"]http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/24/illeg...-mortgage-mess/[/url]

[Madame Vengier]

The column:

Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2008

The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers. As panicked politicians prepare to fork over a trillion dollars in taxpayer funding to rescue the financial industry, they’ve fingered regulation, deregulation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Community Reinvestment Act, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, both Bushes, greedy banks, greedy borrowers, greedy short-sellers, and minority home ownership mau-mauers (can’t call ‘em greedy, that would be racist) for blame.

But there’s one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: How illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis.

It’s no coincidence that most of the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave – Loudon County, Virginia, California’s Inland Empire, Stockton, San Joaquin Valley, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, for starters — also happen to be some of the nation’s largest illegal alien sanctuaries. Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime (the accursed species of loan to borrowers with the shadiest credit histories). A quarter of all those subprime loans are in default and foreclosure.

Regional reports across the country have decried the subprime meltdown’s impact on illegal immigrant “victims.” A July report showed that in seven of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, Hispanics represented at least one-third of the population; in two of those areas – Merced and Salinas-Monterey, Calif. – Hispanics comprised half the population. The amnesty-promoting National Council of La Raza and its Development Fund have received millions in federal funds to “counsel” their constituents on obtaining mortgages with little to no money down; the group almost succeeded in attaching a $10 million earmark for itself in one of the housing bills past this spring.

For the last five years, I’ve reported on the rapidly expanding illegal alien home loan racket. The top banks clamoring for their handouts as their profits plummet, led by Wachovia and Bank of America, launched aggressive campaigns to woo illegal alien homebuyers. The quasi-governmental Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority jumped in to guarantee home loans to illegal immigrants. The Washington Post noted, almost as an afterthought in a 2005 report: “Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing major ethnic or racial group, have been courted aggressively by real estate agents, mortgage brokers and programs for first-time buyers that offer help with closing costs. Ads proclaim: “Sin verificacion de ingresos ! Sin verificacion de documento !” — which loosely translates as, ‘Income tax forms are not required, nor are immigration papers.’”

In addition, fraudsters have engaged in massive house-flipping rings using illegal aliens as straw buyers. Among many examples cited by the FBI: a conspiracy in Las Vegas involving a former Nevada First Residential Mortgage Company branch manager who directed loan officers and processors in the origination of 233 fraudulent Federal Housing Authority loans valued at over $25 million. The defrauders manufactured and submitted false employment and income documentation for borrowers; most were illegal immigrants from Mexico. To date, the FBI reported, “58 loans with a total value of $6.2 million have gone into default, with a loss to the Housing and Urban Development Department of over $1.9 million.”

It’s the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to lax Bush administration-approved policies allowing illegal aliens to use “matricula consular cards” and taxpayer identification numbers to open bank accounts, more forms of mortgage fraud have burgeoned. Moneylenders still have no access to a verification system to check Social Security numbers before approving loans. In an interview about rampant illegal alien home loan fraud, a spokeswoman for the U.S. General Accounting Office told me five years ago:

“[C]onsidering the size of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and other large cities throughout the United States known to be inundated with illegal aliens, I don’t think the federal government is willing to expose this problem for financial reasons as well as for fear of political repercussions.”

Chickens coming home to roost. And law-abiding, responsible taxpayers are going to pay for it.

[url="http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/24/illegal-immigration-and-the-mortgage-mess/"]http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/24/illeg...-mortgage-mess/[/url]

[picchick]

Although there are several points that I agree with you on, I think that there is more to it than this. The housing problem is caused by people taking out loans that they could never pay back. Buying houses they could never afford. Don't blame this issue entirely on immigrants. There are so many American citizens who put themselves into debt.

[dominicansoul]

Why isn't the media blasting the Dem's who are in charge of the very institutions that we now have to bail out? It's liberals not immigrants who caused this.

[Didacus]

Lets not look so much as to blame as to look towards a cause and solution.

This debacle is quickly transfering to Canada too! Actually, Canaiden investors have lost 32 billion dollars so far in this affair. Can anyone sanely claim a recession is not looming for both countries?

Brace yourselves, tough times ahead.

[Madame Vengier]

[quote]Although there are several points that I agree with you on,[/quote]

I didn't write the column.


[quote]The housing problem is caused by people taking out loans that they could never pay back.[/quote]

Right. Like illegal aliens. Who are pandered to and catered to in this country, just for business. Hire them for cheap labor, sell housing to them that they can't afford. Worry about the rest later.

[quote]Don't blame this issue entirely on immigrants.[/quote]

Show where I (or Michelle Malkin) did this, please.

[quote]There are so many American citizens who put themselves into debt.[/quote]

Never said there aren't. This topic isn't about American citizens' part in the housing crisis. It's about illegal aliens' part in the housing crisis, as stated in the subject title. Illegal aliens DO have a part in this. The article explains that just fine.

[Madame Vengier]

[quote name='Didacus' post='1662714' date='Sep 24 2008, 12:11 PM']Lets not look so much as to blame as to look towards a cause and solution.[/quote]

The solution is to make every person entering our country abide by the laws of our sovereign nation. That's the solution. It's simple. We didn't do that, for fear of being called racists and bigots and unjust and uncaring, so we are paying the price for our cowardice now.

[Madame Vengier]

[quote name='dominicansoul' post='1662707' date='Sep 24 2008, 11:48 AM']Why isn't the media blasting the Dem's who are in charge of the very institutions that we now have to bail out? It's liberals not immigrants who caused this.[/quote]


Oh, better than that is the fact that George Bush's decision to bail them out is EXACTLY something the Dems would have done and yet the Dems are criticizing him for it.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

And I did not sayt IMMIGRANTS. Please don't misquote me. I said illegal aliens. They are NOT immigrants.

Edited September 24, 2008 by Madame Vengier

[Maggyie]

[quote name='Madame Vengier' post='1662723' date='Sep 24 2008, 02:25 PM']I said illegal aliens. They are NOT immigrants.[/quote]

Don't you think this is splitting hairs After all when we refer to this subject we often use the term "illegal [b]immigration[/b]." But the point you are trying to make is that you are not blaming this on one sector of the population and that is loud and clear, I am just being nit-picky.

In this column Malkin does seem to be laying a lot of the blame at the feet of the undocumented. I am sure they are a factor in the whole mess but there is more than enough blame to go around for everybody. Is it just me or do writers like Michelle seem angry all the time? It exhausted me just reading this one column.

[Didacus]

I agree with M.Vengier, if they enter the country illegaly, they cannot logically be immigrants. This is a worthy point of note, not splitting hairs.

[CatherineM]

The financial problems can be traced back to greed and making stupid mistakes trying to keep up with the Jones'. I'm against giving money to the institutions/people who screwed this stuff up to begin with. My parents raised half a dozen kids in 800 sq. ft. with one bathroom, so I don't see why people with one child need 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and 2500 sq. ft.

If someone miraculously put me in charge, I'd place a moratorium on foreclosures. They could only proceed if the property had been abandoned, or the residents consent. For those that want to stay in their homes, the bank/mortgage company would have to be willing to refinance the mortgage at the present appraised value. That's all the bank could get for it in foreclosure, and foreclosures are expensive, especially when the evicted owners often trash the place causing thousands of dollars in damage. The owners wouldn't be allowed to sell for a profit for the first 10 years without paying back the difference. Banks willing to do this, get bailed out, the rest can just go out of business.

[Norseman82]

Do we have a dollar amount or percentage figure as to how much of this debacle can be attributed to illegal aliens?

[picchick]

[quote name='Madame Vengier' post='1662720' date='Sep 24 2008, 01:22 PM']I didn't write the column.[/quote]
I know.
[quote]Right. Like illegal aliens. Who are pandered to and catered to in this country, just for business. Hire them for cheap labor, sell housing to them that they can't afford. Worry about the rest later.
Show where I (or Michelle Malkin) did this, please.
Never said there aren't. This topic isn't about American citizens' part in the housing crisis. It's about illegal aliens' part in the housing crisis, as stated in the subject title. Illegal aliens DO have a part in this. The article explains that just fine.[/quote]

MV: I was speaking more in generalities...not necessarily addressing you or the column. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

I am just saying that this issue cannot be blamed entirely on illegal immigrants. Furthermore, there are many illegal immigrants who are hired for cheap labor and have NO housing. For example: migrant workers. Many migrant workers live in subhuman conditions. Most of the immigrants in my area do not have great housing. In fact, somtimes there will be 3-4 families crammed into a house that should really be torn down.

I do not blame illegal immigrants. I blame those who sold the housing to them. Why? Because it is their fault for 1) taking advantage of the immigrants and 2) because they should have known better.

I do not cater to illegal immigrants or anyone for that matter. I think that we all need to work for what we get. There have been so many immigrants who had to work to get to where they are today. Pretty much all of our ancestors were immigrants. I just think that there is more to the issue than just illegal immigrants. We cannot isolate one aspect of the problem to solve the whole probem. We need to look at all the issues to come up with the solution to the whole problem.

Meg

[SpareTime]

[quote name='picchick' post='1662703' date='Sep 24 2008, 12:43 PM']Although there are several points that I agree with you on, I think that there is more to it than this. The housing problem is caused by people taking out loans that they could never pay back. Buying houses they could never afford. Don't blame this issue entirely on immigrants. There are so many American citizens who put themselves into debt.[/quote]



[quote name='Madame Vengier' post='1662721' date='Sep 24 2008, 01:23 PM']The solution is to make every person entering our country abide by the laws of our sovereign nation. That's the solution. It's simple. We didn't do that, for fear of being called racists and bigots and unjust and uncaring, so we are paying the price for our cowardice now.[/quote]

I agree but I would like to see an exception made for children who were not necessarily born here but have lived here for most of their lives, maybe children who were brought here when they were under the age of 5 or something. It isn't fair to them to rip them from their lives here and send them back to a "homeland" they have never known just because their parents did something wrong...

[quote name='Maggie' post='1662730' date='Sep 24 2008, 01:37 PM']In this column Malkin does seem to be laying a lot of the blame at the feet of the undocumented. I am sure they are a factor in the whole mess but there is more than enough blame to go around for everybody. Is it just me or do writers like Michelle seem angry all the time? It exhausted me just reading this one column.[/quote]



[quote name='picchick' post='1662751' date='Sep 24 2008, 02:06 PM']I do not blame illegal immigrants. I blame those who sold the housing to them. Why? Because it is their fault for 1) taking advantage of the immigrants and 2) because they should have known better.[/quote]



The reason some people say it is racist is because a lot of the time the people voicing their complaints talk a lot about Mexico and Mexicans but not about other illegal aliens.

[dominicansoul]

I'm sorry, MV, I didn't realize my mistake in calling them immigrants and not illegal immigrants...

And, yeah, I'm sick of the Dems attacking the Bush Administration when they know darn well it was their policies that have gotten our country into this mess...

To talk about how to fix this mess, I say we NEVER give out loans to people who will NEVER pay them back! How is it fair that we hard-working taxpayers have to pay for those who don't work and yet, get a nice home that they could never afford in the first place??? This is the whole mindset of the Dem's and their welfare plans. It's the Dems pandering to the "poor" so that they can keep voting them into office. "Vote for us. We feed you. We house you. We OWN you!" And yet, they make the taxpayers pay for everything. And most of these Dems took home six-figure sums last year! *sigh* CROOKS!