In a speech on homeownership in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said House Republicans should pass comprehensive immigration reform in order to boost America’s home prices.
“When more people buy homes, and play by the rules, home values go up for everybody,” Obama claimed, mentioning a study that found immigration has boosted home values.
Obama cited Arizona’s Republican Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, both of whom voted for the Senate’s immigration bill that passed, and said, “considering what this bill can do for homeowners, that’s just one more reason Republicans in the House should stop dragging their feet and get this done.”
As Reuters reported in 2008, though, immigrants and illegal immigrants took on many of subprime loans that contributed to the housing crisis. Reuters reported that “illegal immigrants were able to buy U.S. homes during the boom years, either by showing evidence that they pay taxes or by simply presenting false documents.” Many took out “high interest fixed-rate loans or subprime mortgages with a low entry rate that later rose sharply.” Reuters also reported that nearly half of all housing loans held by Hispanics as of 2008 were subprime.
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