Just before Christmas, we learned that the blue-blooded Minneapolis Foundation was commencing a propaganda campaign for immigration—with, of course, no mention of the drawbacks.
Now from Milwaukee comes the news that Wisconsin is launching a scheme to subsidise mortgage loans to illegal immigrants.
MILWAUKEE - In a pilot program described as the first of its kind, an agency created by the state government is making it easier for illegal immigrants in Wisconsin to obtain mortgage loans. Immigrants who do not have Social Security numbers—a common requirement for loans—can use an alternative government-issued tax number to get financing for new homes, under the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) program…
"Anyone will tell you the real growth in home ownership in the state, in the country, is in the minorities and immigrant market," said Antonio Riley, executive director of WHEDA [email him]
…Six banks in Milwaukee and Madison participate in it, and the authority has talked about expanding it to Racine, WHEDA spokesman Ron Legro said. [email him]. [Milwaukee Star Tribune, January 4, 2005]
Not everyone in Wisconsin belongs to the Treason Lobby
…state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, is threatening legislative action if WHEDA doesn't kill the program, which he contends rewards people for breaking the law.
"It is an insult to border guards and immigration officials who are trying to enforce the immigration law," he said. "It is an insult to people who are waiting patiently to enter the country legally."
But this activity is not just morally flawed. As Leslie Spencer and I pointed out in a 1993 (!) article in Forbes, lenders are highly rational. So encouraging lending in risky areas—and lending to inhabitants of the unstable underground economy is risky by definition—has repercussions. Lenders will readjust their policies to match their overall risk requirements.
Translation: subsidizing illegals means less and more expensive credit for native-born Americans.
