This has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard come from a pundit's mouth. And that's saying something; pundits say stupid shit all the time, but this just takes the cake. According to Michelle Malkin--and a great and growing number of conservative nutjobs--the current financial crisis was caused by... wait for it... illegal immigrants. (via digby) Michelle Malkin writes:
It’s no coincidence that most of the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave — Loudoun County, Va., California’s Inland Empire, Stockton and San Joaquin Valley, and Las Vegas and Phoenix, for starters — also happen to be some of the nation’s largest illegal-alien sanctuaries. Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime (the accursed species of loan to borrowers with the shadiest credit histories). A quarter of all those subprime loans are in default and foreclosure.
Regional reports across the country have decried the subprime meltdown’s impact on illegal-immigrant “victims.” A July report showed that in seven of the ten metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, Hispanics represented at least one third of the population; in two of those areas — Merced and Salinas-Monterey, Calif. — Hispanics comprised half the population. The amnesty-promoting National Council of La Raza and its Development Fund have received millions in federal funds to “counsel” their constituents on obtaining mortgages with little to no money down; the group almost succeeded in attaching a $10-million earmark for itself in one of the housing bills past this spring.
For the last five years, I’ve reported on the rapidly expanding illegal-alien home-loan racket. The top banks clamoring for their handouts as their profits plummet, led by Wachovia and Bank of America, launched aggressive campaigns to woo illegal-alien homebuyers. The quasi-governmental Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority jumped in to guarantee home loans to illegal immigrants. The Washington Post noted, almost as an afterthought in a 2005 report: “Hispanics, the nation’s fastest-growing major ethnic or racial group, have been courted aggressively by real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and programs for first-time buyers that offer help with closing costs. Ads proclaim: “Sin verificacion de ingresos! Sin verificacion de documento!” — which loosely translates as, ‘Income tax forms are not required, nor are immigration papers.’“
In addition, fraudsters have engaged in massive house-flipping rings using illegal aliens as straw buyers. Among many examples cited by the FBI: a conspiracy in Las Vegas involving a former Nevada First Residential Mortgage Company branch manager who directed loan officers and processors in the origination of 233 fraudulent Federal Housing Authority loans valued at over $25 million. The defrauders manufactured and submitted false employment and income documentation for borrowers; most were illegal immigrants from Mexico. To date, the FBI reported, “Fifty-eight loans with a total value of $6.2 million have gone into default, with a loss to the Housing and Urban Development Department of over $1.9 million.”
It’s the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to lax Bush-administration-approved policies allowing illegal aliens to use “matricula consular cards” and taxpayer identification numbers to open bank accounts, more forms of mortgage fraud have burgeoned. Moneylenders still have no access to a verification system to check Social Security numbers before approving loans.
In an interview about rampant illegal-alien home-loan fraud, a spokeswoman for the U.S. General Accounting Office told me five years ago: “[C]onsidering the size of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and other large cities throughout the United States known to be inundated with illegal aliens, I don’t think the federal government is willing to expose this problem for financial reasons as well as for fear of political repercussions.”
The chickens are coming home to roost. And law-abiding, responsible taxpayers are going to pay for it.
Hmm... Interesting stuff, Ms. Malkin. Unfortunately, there is nothing to support, besides a potential correlation (you use only anecdotal evidence) your claim that there is a connection between areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave and illegal immigration. Even if you did present an actual evidence of such a correlation, it could easily be explained by the fact that illegal immigrants tend to be poor and, as such, live in poorer areas harder hit by the foreclosure wave. Thus, while there may be (though you didn't present evidence for one) a correlation between illegal immigration and foreclosure rates, that does not mean that illegal immigration caused those foreclosures.
I have a sneaking suspicion, though, Ms. Malkin, that you think you did provide evidence. You wrote, "Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime." This can only be evidence of the effects of illegal immigration if you think that hispanic and illegal immigrant are interchangeable terms. And you do it throughout your entire peice. I'll let Digby take it from here:
And, like most racists, she forgets herself from time to time and forgets to distinguish between illegal immigrants and Mexican Americans. It makes no difference to her, of course, but they are usually a bit more scrupulous in their obfuscation.
You might think I'm being to harsh on poor Ms. Malkin. After all, she is sticking up for all of those "law-abiding, responsible taxpayers". Of course, since she uses illegal immigrants and hispanics as interchangable terms and clearly calls them out for taking down our financial system, she obviously thinks that hispanics aren't, or can't be, "law-abiding, responsible taxpayers." I guess I tend to get mean when (1) I haven't smoked all goddamn day and when (2) people write blatantly bigoted columns
But let's give Ms. Malkin some credit. She does provide some pretty serious evidence for at least one of her claims. That's not bad right? One claim out of a column full of 'em? She does show that there is some kind of a link between illegal immigration and home-loan fraud. Now, I only have my intuition here, but, unless Malkin is trying to say that one specific type of fraud is the cause of the failure of a quarter of all subprime loans--which, you know, she's not--then the fact that illegal immigrants get caught up in illegal get rich quick schemes isn't really all that relevent to her central claim: illegal immigrants caused the financial crisis.
Hey, I think I just debunked an entire column using only a basic knowledge of common logical fallacies. Thanks for making my job easy, Michelle!
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