Last month, the USDA announced a new partnership with the Mexican government:

MEXICO CITY, May 13, 2005-Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico Ernesto Luis Derbez Bautista today signed a partnership arrangement to improve access to USDA rural development programs for eligible Mexicans in the United States.

"USDA looks forward to continuing to work with Mexican authorities to enhance outreach to the Mexican community," said Johanns. "USDA administers 43 rural development programs designed to assist rural residents and communities increase their economic opportunities and improve their quality of life. Expanding access to these programs in underserved communities in need, especially the Hispanic community, is a priority for the Bush Administration."

The State Department report "Pact Aims to Help Mexicans Living in Rural Parts of United States" informs us that this is (apparently) only open to Mexican citizens who are in the U.S. legally and it will provide loans and grants. It also includes this:

...The programs also support loans to businesses through banks and community-managed lending pools, and offer technical assistance and information to help agricultural and other cooperatives get started and improve the effectiveness of their member services.

President Bush says that while more and more people own homes in the United States, fewer than half of all Hispanics in the country are homeowners. At an October 2002 White House conference on minority home ownership, the president set a 2010 goal of increasing the number of minority homeowners in the United States by at least 5.5 million families.

See the long transcript of Johanns' remarks in Mexico City on May 13 for more, including the information that this is related to the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.

All of these press releases point out that the Mexican consulates in the U.S. will be promoting this program and will be deeply involved in other ways.

And, the press releases also switch back and forth between the "Mexican community in the U.S." and the Hispanic version thereof, presumably referring to U.S. citizens. Clearly there's some confusion within the upper reaches of the Bush administration.

Apparently there are no American citizens who want loans and grants anymore or who could be enticed to buy property in these areas, and the Bush administration has decided that giving loans and grants to citizens of another country is the only option...

While this policy is probably coming straight from the top, see Bush's Open-Borders nominees for more on Johanns.