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Vance Falsely Claims Harris Wants $25k for Undocumented Immigrants' Homes

Most undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are ineligible for federal benefits due to Social Security number requirements.

Published August 23, 2024 at 5:06am by

JD Vance

Statement: “Kamala Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes.”

Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick, attacked Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign pledge to ease the burden of costly down payments on first-time homebuyers.

"Kamala Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes," the Ohio Republican wrote Aug. 16 on X, formerly Twitter. "This will only further exacerbate the housing shortage in our country. It's a disgrace. We should be making it easier and more affordable for American citizens to buy homes."

The Vance campaign pointed PolitiFact to Harris’ recently announced proposal that would provide up to $25,000 for first-time homebuyers to put toward a down payment on a home.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, debuted the plan at an Aug. 16 campaign rally. She didn’t discuss technicalities, so it’s unclear how the policy would be carried out or who could qualify for the assistance. Here’s what we know:

What is Harris’ down payment assistance proposal?

Without providing much detail, Harris pledged down payment assistance.

"As the Harris-Walz plan starts to expand the supply of entry-level homes, they will, during their first term, provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners," the campaign said in an Aug. 16 news release.

Harris also mentioned the proposal — with less detail about who might qualify — at the aforementioned campaign rally, Aug 16 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

"We also know that as the cost of housing has gone up, the size of down payments have gone up as well," she said. "Even if aspiring homeowners save for years, it often still is not enough. So, in addition, while we work on the housing shortage, my administration will provide first-time homebuyers with $25,000 to help with the down payment on a new home."

Harris did not provide many details on who would qualify, and it’s unclear what the proposed "assistance" would entail. Several news reports described it as "assistance," The Washington Post described it as "a $25,000 credit." The Harris campaign did not address our questions seeking more detail.

In practice, what might Harris’ plan look like?

Harris’ plan builds on a similar Biden administration proposal in March. Biden called on Congress to provide as much as $25,000 in down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers whose parents didn't own homes. That plan is mentioned in the 2024 Democratic Party Platform, which Democrats formally adopted Aug. 19 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Under Harris’ plan, people whose parents owned homes would also qualify for assistance.

In March, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and six Democratic co-sponsors, introduced legislation that would provide up to $20,000 federal grants to help first-generation homebuyers with certain home purchase expenses, including their down payment and closing costs. Under the bill, a person would qualify for grant assistance if he or she were a first-time and first-generation homebuyer whose income wasn’t more than 120% of the area’s median income (or 140% of the median income if the home being purchased was in a high-cost area).

Beyond that, the law’s implementation would depend on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the state-level agencies administering the funding, a Warnock spokesperson said.

That bill was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs on March 12, where it awaits further action. The Harris campaign did not say whether Warnock’s legislation aligned with her plan.

Why did Vance claim an immigrant in the country illegally could qualify?

The Vance campaign said that migrants who entered the U.S. illegally under the Biden-Harris administration could, over time, qualify for Harris’ down payment assistance proposal.

For example, the Vance campaign told us that migrants awaiting a decision on their asylum claim — which could take years given the immigration court backlog — can be issued work permits and Social Security numbers.

The Social Security Administration says that typically "only noncitizens authorized to work in the United States by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can get an SSN."

A 2023 Congressional Research Service report found that "unauthorized noncitizens" — meaning foreign nationals who entered the U.S. "without inspection," "with fraudulent documents" or who entered legally but overstayed "the terms of their temporary stay" — are not eligible for employment authorization or a work-authorized Social Security number.

The Social Security Administration can issue Social Security numbers that are "not valid for employment" to some noncitizens who are not authorized by the Homeland Security Department to work in the U.S. if a federal law requires the noncitizen have a Social Security number to receive a benefit or service.

Most immigrants living without authorization in the U.S. are not eligible for benefits from federal programs, because the programs require Social Security numbers. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally are typically ineligible for federal Department of Housing and Urban Development housing programs.

PolitiFact's ruling

Vance said, "Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes."

The GOP vice presidential nominee is filling in blanks about a proposal that we know little about.

Harris has pledged to provide "working families who have paid their rent on time for two years" who are first-time homebuyers with $25,000 in down payment assistance. She has not detailed what the policy would entail or who would qualify.

The Vance campaign argued that migrants could get Social Security numbers that might qualify them for down payment assistance. Social Security numbers are typically given only to noncitizens who are authorized to work in the U.S.

At PolitiFact, the burden of proof is on the speaker. Having seen no specific details from Vance’s team that demonstrate Harris’ proposal would benefit immigrants in the country illegally, we rate his claim False.

PolitiFact Staff Writer Maria Ramirez Uribe and Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

Our sources

Read more: JD Vance falsely claims that Harris wants to give undocumented immigrants $25k for homes