Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, said on his podcast Thursday that California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom's career could be “over” if he signs a bill that would allow housing subsidies to illegal immigrants.
Last week, the California Assembly passed AB 184, which allows undocumented immigrants in the state with Social Security or taxpayer identification numbers to qualify for a program that offers loans of up to $150,000 to first-time homebuyers. Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, slammed California's bill on an episode of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” saying that if Newsom signs the bill, the impact will be that he will never be elected again. (Related story: Bill that would give illegal immigrants up to $150,000 to buy homes reaches Governor Gavin Newsom's desk)
“But if you're an illegal immigrant, you'll be exempt, just like in California. If you want to buy a home right now, it's very difficult at 7 percent interest. But if you were an illegal immigrant, the California Legislature has said, we're going to wait and see what Governor Newsom does, but you could get $150,000 in benefits,” Hanson said.
“If he signs away knowing his career is over, he'll never be elected because that will be a campaign ad for the rest of his life. He's trying to figure out what to do, but as we've all witnessed, there's a disease in this country,” Hanson said.
Hanson went on to question whether the United States could allow some people to remain in the country knowingly “violating the law.”
“There is a deep-seated self-loathing for oneself, one's country, one's city, one's state that is the only reason our entire society goes crazy and allows foreigners to knowingly break the law to enter the country,” Hanson continued, “and then they find out they've broken the law a second time by staying here, and then they continue to knowingly break the law with this type of activity and with applications that they are not qualified to make.”
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“Why don't we do anything? It's because we feel we're to blame or we're too wealthy,” Hanson said. “No, our total debt is $36 trillion. California has a $50 billion a year deficit. Our roads are crumbling, our infrastructure is crumbling. We have homeless people on the streets. We're a Dickensian-like decaying society. We can't afford this.”
Governor Newsom has so far declined to comment on where he might sign the bill. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on “Real Time with Bill Maher” last weekend and told the host that she wasn't familiar with AB 1840 but that she wanted to transition “illegal” immigrants to “legal” immigrants.
“Well, I'm not sure exactly what that would mean, but making the American dream of homeownership accessible to all is what we need to do for the people here today,” Pelosi said when asked about the bill.
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