They’re Here Illegally — Don’t Help Them Buy Homes (Rep. John Doolittle)

Thursday night, I introduced legislation on the House Floor that would prevent financial lenders, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, from issuing mortgages to illegal aliens.  The amendment that I proposed would prohibit the offering of residential mortgages to anyone without a valid Social Security number, thus preventing illegal aliens from getting loans.  Currently, people who use Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) rather than Social Security numbers can qualify for home loans, however there is no way of ensuring whether they are legal residents.  Because the Social Security Administration does verify legal residence status prior to issuing a number, a Social Security card would provide lenders the confidence of knowing that the people seeking mortgages have a legal right to be here.

One of the purposes of H.R. 1427 is to reduce the portfolio sizes of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  What better way to accomplish that than to prohibit mortgages for illegal immigrants?  Not only will this change decrease the market risk, but it will also eliminate one more incentive that draws illegal immigrants to our country.  The simple fact is that government-sponsored lenders should not be in the business of assisting illegal immigrants to purchase homes in the United States.  Allowing illegal immigrants to purchase a primary residence here is just another incentive that encourages illegal immigration.  That needs to stop now.  This amendment would not affect U.S. citizens or legal U.S. residents because they too can receive a work-authorized Social Security number.  The only people who have to worry about this change are the very people who broke federal law to enter or stay in the country in the first place.  This important amendment comes to the House Floor for a vote tomorrow.