Controversy Brews Over California’s Housing Assistance Program for Illegal Aliens

FAIR Take | March 2024

California may have a deficit of over $72 billion, but that won’t keep the Golden State from shelling out millions more in housing assistance to illegal aliens. Assembly Bill (AB) 1840, introduced by Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno), aims to expand eligibility for the state’s affordable housing loan program, giving taxpayer dollars to illegal aliens to help them put a down payment on a home.

The housing program, called the California Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program, was launched only last year. Administered by the state’s Housing Finance Agency, the program offers a loan of up to 20 percent of the home’s purchase price to first-time home buyers in California. These loans are interest-free and borrowers are not required to make monthly payments. However, when the borrower refinances or sells the home, he or she must repay the original loan amount along with an additional 20 percent reflecting the appreciation in the home’s value.

While the loan program was originally designed to help lower-income families, Assemblyman Arambula argues that the wording of the program does not go far enough. He says home ownership fosters generational wealth, a right that should be available to everyone, regardless of legal status. His bill, AB 1840 provides that no one should be excluded from the program based “solely on immigration status.”

Presently, the California Dream for All Shared Appreciation Loans program is limited to 2,300 applicants. When the application was released to the public last year, the $300 million set aside for the loans ran out in eleven days, prompting concerns that the beneficiaries might already possess the financial means to purchase a home. This year, the California Housing Finance Agency allocated $250 million and has replaced the program’s first-come-first-serve model with a lottery system. It also now requires that one of the purchasers also be a first-generational home buyer.

In addition, the Agency plans to lower the program’s income eligibility threshold, which is generally calculated based on federal housing income thresholds, by 20 percent. The income threshold varies by county, resulting in a range. For instance, individuals applying in Marin County must earn less than $277,000, whereas those in Yuba County must earn below $132,000.

Understandably, this housing program has garnered immense popularity throughout California, and more illegal aliens may opt for the Golden State due to the array of benefits it offers them without cost.

However, some lawmakers are objecting to the use of tax dollars to help aliens who have no legal right to be in the U.S. buy a home. State Senator Brian Dahle (CA-1) described it as “an insult to California citizens who are being left behind and priced out of homeownership. I’m all for helping first-time homebuyers, but give priority to those who are here in our state legally.”

AB 1840 is currently before the Committee on Housing and Community Development.