Michelle Malkin » Kill the bailout: Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess

Kill the bailout: Illegal immigration and the mortgage mess

By Michelle Malkin • September 24, 2008 07:49 AM

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 screwed us. Now, they want us to fork over a trillion dollars.

Screw them.

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.

***

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.

Posted in: 2008 campaign, Immigration, Subprime crisis

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#201

On September 24th, 2008 at 11:26 pm, YTZGal said:

On September 24th, 2008 at 1:11 pm, AlohaGuy said:
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
I want them to stop giving my money to political groups! La Raza, ACORN, Black Panthers, KKK, any of them!

Hear! Hear!
That needs to be part of the “reform” - and non-negotiable.
#202

On September 25th, 2008 at 1:12 am, California Red said:

I know there is passion and principle on this site. I hate the idea of a bailing out the irresponsible with all my heart.

But there is merit to the idea that credit needs to flow for busines to carry on and for the housing market to recover.

If we can avoid a depression we might be best served by some type of government assitance to keep credit flowing.

I say we let the investment banks and Wall Street eat the derivate securites they have gobbled up and just have the Feds give loans directly to qualified people to buy homes and start/operate/expand business. CA has a Vet loan program that hasn’t cost us any tax dollars in generations.

The root of this is housing boom and bust. Only when the housing market stablizes will our economy rebound. Let’s let Wall Street sleep in the bed they’ve made while helping our Main Street.

If we want to kill the bill, there has to be an economically sound alterntive.
#203

On September 25th, 2008 at 3:12 am, greenLibertarian said:

Thanks, Michelle.

I sent the link to this article, and my own spirited comments, to my three Oregon federal legislators.
#204

On September 25th, 2008 at 8:03 am, RockyR said:

Is this one flying under the radar?

Michigan
#205

On September 25th, 2008 at 8:58 am, bear1909 said:

RabbidSquirrel said:
On September 24th, 2008 at 1:47 pm, bear1909 said:
Also, remember, the Fed has NO CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. Nor does the IRS.
Havent read all of the posts on this thread but, um…..
The 16th amendment and the Federal Reserve Acts (which is a derivative of the constitutional authority of the Legislative Branch)?

The introduction of said “laws” in 1913 was overturned by the Supreme Court but then overturned in reverse (making it legal) when the makeup of the court changed. The deal was then sealed in 1929 (oops!).

It is a granted point in constitutional law circles that the Federal Reserve System has debatable constitutional validity. It exists because viable and strict constructionist compliant values have not been applied to solve the nation’s money problem that has plagued it since its founding.
#206

On September 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am, Dimsdale said:

From the Senate Banking Commission web page:

Extracts From the Standing Rules of The Senate
Rule XXV, Standing Committees

1. The following standing committees shall be appointed at the commencement of each Congress and shall continue and have the power to act until their successors are appointed, with leave to report by bill or otherwise on matters within their jurisdictions:

(d)(1) Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, to which committee shall by referred all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials and other matters relating to the following subjects:

* Banks, banking, and financial institutions.
* Control of prices of commodities, rents and services.
* Deposit insurance.
* Economic stabilization and defense production.
* Export and foreign trade promotion.
* Export controls.
* Federal monetary policy, including the Federal Reserve System.
* Financial aid to commerce and industry.
* Issuance and redemption of notes.
* Money and credit, including currency and coinage.
* Nursing home construction.
* Public and private housing (including veterans housing).
* Renegotiation of Government contracts.
* Urban development and urban mass transit.

(2) Such Committee shall also study and review on a comprehensive basis, matters relating to international economic policy as it affects United States monetary affairs, credit, and financial institutions; economic growth, urban affairs, and credit, and report thereon from time to time.

So exactly what have they been doing all this time?

Hello? Mr. Dodd? Mr. Dodd? Bueller? Bueller?
#207

On September 25th, 2008 at 3:23 pm, Paul-Cincy said:

Michelle, aren’t you being too much of an ideologue, too dogmatic? Ever heard the phrase, “for the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost”? Do we want to repeat the failures of the 1930s? Can I set a record for most consecutive questions?

If drying up of credit causes a deep recession and loss of jobs, perhaps the bailout is a good idea. I don’t really know.