Contrary to what the man in the video says, the bill has never aimed to establish a brand-new home-owning program designed exclusively for immigrants, documented or undocumented. The first paragraph of the legislative proposal sponsored by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula (archived here) explicitly referred to an existing program, California Dream for All (archived here.)
His legislative director Jacob Moss confirmed that to Lead Stories via email on March 7, 2024:
There is nothing exclusive about the program to undocumented immigrants. The bill was always additive and clarifying. It didn't modify in any way how citizens are able to access the program or create any type of priority or preference for any applicant.
According to the program's website, it "offers up to 20% for down payment or closing costs, not to exceed $150,000" for first-time homebuyers whose household income is not greater than specific amounts and one of whom has to be also a first-generation homebuyer (the State of California distinguishes between the two).
The existing program's handbook, last updated in January 2024, explicitly mentions U.S. citizens in the eligibility section as well as "qualified aliens" as defined at 8 U.S.C § 1641 (archived here). This section of the U.S. Code describes people who are either legal permanent residents or fall under very specific exceptions under the U.S. law.
In reality, however, the pool of noncitizens who can benefit from the program is much smaller. Besides green card holders, it is mostly limited to DACA recipients, Moss told Lead Stories:
The 'qualified aliens' in this program are only those able to get a mortgage loan. This means folks who are able to get an ITIN, which will almost always be DACA folks. There is no scenario that an undocumented person without a SSN or ITIN will be able to get a bank loan which means there is no scenario that they would qualify for a Dream for All investment. ... We just want to ensure that if a bank is willing to lend, the state doesn't have a more stringent standard that inadvertently excludes people when inclusion of these people has been the stated goal of the program all along. |
