In January, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his plan to spend $100 million to provide coverage to Big Apple residents lacking health insurance, nearly half of whom are illegal immigrants. With the State of New York now guaranteeing immigration violators access to in-state college tuition, the mayor has found another way to reward illegal aliens with a piece of the city’s budgetary pie.
At a time when about 14 percent of the nation’s homeless population resides within the five boroughs, de Blasio thinks it’s a grand idea to make it easier for an estimated 725,000 illegal aliens who also live in Gotham to get subsidized housing. In fact, he believes rewarding illegal immigrants makes it a “fairer” system.
Taking a break from his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, de Blasio insisted that he was “creating a fairer system for all New Yorkers” by doing away with a requirement that applicants for subsidized housing have a good credit history and provide either a Social Security or a taxpayer identification number, which most illegal immigrants possess.
In 2018, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which oversees the highly-competitive housing lotteries, told landlords a poor credit score could no longer be used as the sole reason to reject an application.
While the change was intended to “level the playing field” for low-income New Yorkers, the sad irony is that the city’s decision could act as a disincentive for real estate developers to build more affordable housing units.
“They want to make sure the tenants they do get are able to pay the bills, so we want them to have the assurance of a good credit score, and by taking that off the table, we will discourage developers from participating in the mayor’s signature housing program,” says Manhattan Institute scholar Howard Husock.
So, what is the real goal of the new lottery requirements?
According to news outlet NY1, City officials freely admit that opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration policies spurred the change. Illegal aliens tend to be at the lower end of the economic spectrum and, therefore, candidates for subsidized housing when it is made available to them.
Ana Nuñez of the nonprofit Churches United For Fair Housing delightedly boasts that the changes will “completely opens the floodgates” to illegal immigrants getting subsidized housing.
How is it fair to allow nearly 800,000 more people – who have absolutely no right to be in the United States – to enter a housing lottery where participants currently face a 1-in-600 chance of securing an apartment? The answer is that it is not fair at all.
And it will be law-abiding U.S. citizen and legal immigrant New Yorkers who could have their hope of affordable housing washed away when they are forced to compete with illegal aliens. Those who do not get selected in the housing lottery will face rents in the private market that are out of reach and getting more so.
A report from NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer released earlier this summer found that rents in the city continue to rise. According to a digital “Affordability index” published by Stringer, the median rent rose on average by 4 percent per year, which works out to a 61 percent rent hike between 2005 and 2017 for someone in a one-bedroom apartment.
City Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) was more frank in his criticism of giving illegal immigrants the same shot as legal residents and native New Yorkers to realize their dream of getting an apartment.
“It’s just the latest idiotic idea to come out of this administration. The mayor is setting up people to fail and is doing a disservice to New Yorkers who desperately need affordable housing,” he told the New York Post.
14 Comments
The squad wants to reduce pollution but more people equals more pollution.
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The scope of government intrusiveness in NYC scares me and I’m glad I don’t live there. Housing lotteries? One reason it’s out of land is it’s remained an Ellis Island of unrestricted arrival far, far longer than such policy made sense, given the city built out at 7 million people back in the 1920s and has crammed another 1½ million in since I was born. Why is it promoting an illegal flow now? And de Blasio wants to be prez, though failing to make the next debate round it looks like he’s out. Migration is a population-resource balance game in which having more land, more Douglas firs, and more oil and gas per capita keeps housing costs lower, offering landlords a choice—of whether to exclude tenants with poor credit, or charge a risk premium to allow move-in.
Meanwhile, our states didn’t allow incarcerated convicts to profit from their deeds when they nixed the book deals we used to see. Proceeds must go to victims or charity. Allocating public money to benefit someone living in the US without a visa reduces to a similar thing. Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 decision requiring schools admit pupils without papers, at least contemplated this in a case where the subject was here for reasons beyond his or her control. What NYC is doing is absurd.
Let’s regulate our border instead. We needn’t demonize illegals who often lack a true mens rea when choosing to overstay or dodge inspection. We need only put of them on planes the day they get caught.
What the hell is the whole elected people in this country gone crazy out of their batshit minds. They have to know their constituany as well as the rest of the population is tired of this crap. The city is in dire need of repair and the Police and Fire Dept and other services probably haven’t had are raise since 9/11. Vote them out and get someone in there that knows their *** from their elbow. Illegal is the word describing these people they deserve Jail or Deporting no more. If they were white or black citizens we would be in handcuffs being drug off to jail.
Who in the hell gave them the right to give them benefits in the first place. ??? And what part of illegal don’t you understand??? Please explain that one to me !!!!!!!!
Seeing how this is so completely and totally unfair to the citizens and legal residents of New York, I cannot understand how these politicians continue to get voted back into office! I think it’s time for the people of New York, the legal citizens, stood up and walked straight to those voting polls in 2020! It’s the only way they’re going to save themselves and their state.
Agree, yet Bronx 14 picked AOC for Congress last time. Hardly cause for optimism.
Once all the rich guys leave and the grunts have to foot the bill, maybe they’ll make wiser choices on who they vote for.
and yet the state is still under federal court order to fix and repair all of public housing with the state and city keep saying is going to cost $35 billion dollars to get done. they keep saying they don’t have the money to be able to take care of the court order. but yet the state and city has $22 plus billion dollars for people here illegally. matter of fact with all the money that the state and city continue to waste on people that are here illegally. you can get almost if not all families and people that are here legally free housing. could have used that money to have public housing fully repaired years ago. could have had public transport paid for for years. could have fix all the streets completely. so many things that could have been done. but instead of doing good for the people here legally the state and city rather kiss up to people here illegally. but if people keep voting for the same type of people nothing will change.
Need to be rid of Mills!! Get rid of Democrats. They are destroying the country. Fight for term limits on all politicians!!
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Illegals should not get any benefits since they should not be here. When are these ignorant politicians going to get it in their head already? It is hurting the US Citizens. It is obvious and should not be done.
All these politicians are after are free votes. Illegals shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Or get s.s. no. Their taking all rights away from citizens.
Absolutely 100%! All about votes so the Democrats stay seated ! We need them OUT!!! DESTROYING THE COUNTRY!!