Newsom Vetoes Bill to Help Undocumented Immigrants Buy Homes – Advocates Cry Foul

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Sacramento, CA – Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 1840—a bill that would have prohibited disqualification of applicants from a California Housing Finance Agency’s home purchase assistance program based solely on immigration status.

“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,” the Governor said in his veto message.

The program provides 20 percent in down payment assistance to first-generation homebuyers who meet CalHFA income limits.

The bill, authored by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, would provide undocumented immigrants with taxpayer ID numbers or Social Security numbers with eligibility for up to $150,000 in down payment assistance.

“I’m deeply disappointed that Gov. Newsom today vetoed AB 1840,” Assemblymember Arambula said in a statement Friday. “The veto doesn’t change the fact that many people — including undocumented immigrants — dream of owning a home so that generational wealth can be passed to their children.”

Last year, there were 18,000 people who applied for the program, with 1,700 ultimately chosen.  This would increase the number of people who are not automatically excluded from the program.

“We simply wanted to be as inclusive as possible within our policies so that all who are paying taxes here in our state were able to qualify,” Assemblymember Arambula told POLITICO. “Without the intentional law that we are introducing, we felt that there were complexities and questions that many in the immigrant community would have.”

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), the largest immigrant rights organization in California, expressed disappointment to Governor Newsom’s veto.

“Vetoing AB 1840 is the wrong call,” said Angelica Salas, CHIRLA Executive Director.  “When we talk about housing equity, we can’t leave our undocumented community behind. Excluding Californians from housing programs undermines the California promise that if you work hard, you can own a home.”

Salas added, “California is strong when we expand opportunity to all who call this state their home. In California, undocumented families contribute 8.5 Billion dollars to the state coffers. Immigrants make California thrive.”

Cynthia Gomez, Deputy Director of State Policy and Advocacy, CHIRLA, explained, “AB 1840 is simply about ensuring immigration status isn’t a barrier in home ownership. Everyone deserves the equal opportunity to own a home.

“Undocumented immigrants enrich our communities culturally, socially, and fiscally through their tax contributions. This bill is about equity and we will continue to work hard until every Californian has an equal shot at prosperity.”

 

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  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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11 comments

  1. Recently Newsom has been coming to his senses not only on this but several other issues. Is this just a head fake because of the coming election and once it’s over he goes back to being his same old self, a far left liberal?

    1. The only way Newsom appears a “far left liberal” is to someone who is sitting just a bit to the left of Franco or Mussolini.

      Learn about the Overton Window. Your claim is ridiculous.

        1. I feel there is starting to be a moral responsibility to call these people out for this nonsense. No reasonable human (other than someone sitting in the extreme far right) thinks Newsom is a “far leftist.”

          I’m not going to let the conservative civility scolds get to me. He was wrong and deserved to be called out. And notice how he just doubles down with the prancing, dancing, grinning MAGA “I owned the libs” puerile nonsense. Pretty sad for someone who is a senior citizen, IMHO.

          The right needs to be pushed back against right now, and we shouldn’t care if they cry about “civility” and how Dems are now “being mean” after all of the namecalling and hostility anyone to the left of Atilla the Hun has traditionally had to deal with in this country (including being called pedos and groomers), and which has been amplified and turned into a blood sport by these far right extremists that Trump unleashed.

          And I’ll forestall any claims of “I’m not a far right extremist” by noting that it doesn’t really matter what someone *calls* themselves; I look at their words and the positions they hold. If it walks like the extreme far right, and quacks like the extreme far right, it *is* the extreme far right despite how it wants to label itself.

          1. My sense for some time has been that the right really doesn’t understand and recognize the cleavages and differences within the left. There is also a tendency to attempt to paint the entire left with a broad brush.

          2. You’re welcome David. I’ve induced some action to the dead comments section on your blog, shibboleths and all.
            You should be paying me for this.

          3. “You’re welcome David. I’ve induced some action to the dead comments section on your blog, shibboleths and all. You should be paying me for this.”

            You have anything of substance, or just your shibboleths and the typical prancing, dancing, pickin’ and grinnin’ MAGA ownage of the libs? You seem inordinately proud of having zero substance.

            How unbecoming of someone who is a senior citizen, allegedly.

          4. “My sense for some time has been that the right really doesn’t understand and recognize the cleavages and differences within the left. There is also a tendency to attempt to paint the entire left with a broad brush.”

            David, to be fair, conservatives and right wingers really aren’t known all that much for their deep, critical thinking.

            They are given to “black and white,” “this or that,” “all or nothing” thinking, with little ability to consider complexities, nuance, or shades of grey. All well demonstrated by the conservatives who frequent this blog, and the “nice polite bystanders” who frequent the Davis Enterprise comments section or other blogs in town.

            https://psychologytoday.com/us/blog/genius-and-madness/200809/is-political-conservatism-a-mild-form-of-insanity

          5. Kenda said:
            And I’ll forestall any claims of “I’m not a far right extremist” by noting that it doesn’t really matter what someone *calls* themselves; I look at their words and the positions they hold. If it walks like the extreme far right, and quacks like the extreme far right, it *is* the extreme far right despite how it wants to label itself.

            I try to do the same thing that you do Kendra. In the past I have called out right wing extremists and housing obstructionists. David can attest to that. They often try to hide despite their rhetoric giving them away. I surmise they don’t want to be known for what many consider to be negative traits. The Moms for Liberty and the MAGA cult are examples.

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