California Gov. Gavin Newsom killed a bill that would have allowed illegal immigrants to be eligible for a housing program where they could receive an interest-free loan worth up to $150,000 for a home purchase.
On Friday, Newsom vetoed the bill proposed by Democratic Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula of Fresno that would make illegal immigrants eligible for California’s Home Purchase Assistance Program, which allows some first-time home buyers to get up to $150,000 in interest-free loans for a home down payment, CBS News reported.
“Given the finite funding available for CalHFA programs, expanding program eligibility must be carefully considered within the broader context of the annual state budget to ensure we manage our resources effectively,” Newsom said in a message addressed to members of the state Assembly after vetoing the bill.
At a briefing later that day, Newsom defended his move to kill the bill, Politico reported.
“The bill that was sent to me was [on] a program that had no money, and it was expanding eligibility to a program that had no money,” Newsom said.
“It seemed rather curious to me,” he added. “So it was unnecessary and completely consistent with prior vetoes along those similar lines.”
The bill passed 53-18 in the state Assembly and 25-14 in the Senate before heading to the governor’s desk.
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No Republicans in the Assembly or Senate voted in favor of the proposal and argued that the bill’s passage would continue to incentivize illegal immigration and create unfair competition for American citizens struggling to buy a home, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“It’s a slap in the face to legal immigrants when we incentivize the breaking of our laws and the normalizing of being in this country unlawfully,” said Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R). “We need to close our border. This is a problem of our own making. We have made the borders wide open, millions of people are coming over and now the state of California is creating a huge incentive for those who came here illegally to come to California.”
Newsom’s veto comes a day after former President Donald Trump talked about the “flood” of millions of people entering the country illegally, which he said has driven up housing costs.
During a speech at the Economic Club of New York, Trump talked about the proposed CA bill and vowed to “ban mortgages for illegal aliens.”
Trump also vowed that, when president, he would ask “Congress to pass legislation barring all tax-payer funded benefits” to illegal immigrants.
Leif Mahieu contributed to this piece.
