Yet another Republican tempest in a teapot

Did Supervisor Desmond get your blood a boil last week with his pronouncement: “California has once again chosen to prioritize dangerous policies over the safety and well-being of its citizens. Last week, lawmakers passed AB1840, which would make California the first state in the nation to offer state-supported home loans of up to $150,000 to illegal immigrants.“

If he had only read a summary of the bill, he would have realized no harm was being proposed. Here’s the summary: "AB1840 will bar the state from disqualifying someone from its Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP) based solely on the person's immigration status.” The key word is “solely.” Some 99+% of undocumented aliens do not have the funds, or credit score to even initiate an application for a home loan.

Note that undocumented alien is not necessarily a permanent status. For instance, a person who had a valid work visa but didn’t reapply promptly could temporarily become undocumented.

There is a work visa for high salaried, hi-tech workers: the H1-B. A person in that category might decide to stay and become a US citizen. They may have filed Form N-400 to start the process. AB1840 would have allowed them to apply for a home loan at the same time. That's only an example; there other cases as well.

However, the point is moot, since our Governor vetoed the bill. Governor Newsom is well aware of the budget crunch. He didn’t veto AB1840 because it was a bad bill, he vetoed it because we can’t afford it right now.

John H. Terrell