Tell Congress to pass the
Homeownership for DREAMers Act.

DACA recipients are now prohibited from using the federal FHA loan program, according to a recent policy change by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This summer, HUD announced that DACA recipients would no longer be allowed to use the FHA loan program to buy a home with a 3.5% down payment, although they pay federal taxes that fund this program. There are over 700,000 DACA recipients across America. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that there are 115,000 in Texas alone. Until now, DACA recipients have been able to buy homes using the federally insured FHA loan program. While other loan programs remain available, this discriminatory policy by HUD cannot go unchallenged.

Senators and Representatives have introduced legislation, S. 1929 and H.R. 3154, that would end this new policy. It would require federal mortgage entities like HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, USDA, and the VA to consider DACA recipients the same way that they consider any other applicant. Discrimination against DACA recipients would not be permitted. We must demand that our Texas members of Congress fight this administration’s discrimination against DACA recipients.

We need Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz as well as our 36 Texas members of Congress to vote Yes on these bills to restore the full rights of DACA recipients to American homeownership. The federal government in the past has denied federal mortgage insurance to Americans because of racial discrimination. This was called redlining in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, and 60s and it is a chapter of our nation’s history we do not need to relive. We must stand for the rights of all Texans to participate in the American dream, without paying higher rates or fees in order to do so just because of their immigration status. As tax-paying residents of Texas, DACA recipients have earned the privilege of using the FHA loan program, just like any other Texan.

To learn more about this issue and to learn about the organizations serving DACA recipients, please visit www.MortgageMission.org/DACA. Mortgage on a Mission is a social enterprise that supports Fair Housing as a Human Right for all Texans. When we help Texans buy a home or refinance their loan, we are able to pay wages to progressive workers, save money for progressive home owners, and donate money to the causes we care about, like defending the Voting Rights Act and ending corporate PAC money in our elections. You can learn more about us on our website.

Our 115,000 neighbors in Texas
with DACA status deserve fair housing, too.

Learn about the Senate and House bills and their current status. Link to the full bill: H.R. 3154. Link to the full bill: S. 1929. In early June, the House bill left the House Financial Services committee with a vote of 33 to 25. The Senate version was introduced on June 20th and has yet to pass out of committee (a of 9/11/2019). Learn more about the story leading up to these two bills. The moral and economic argument for defending DACA recipients is strong. That is probably why opinion polls reveal that 80% of Americans support the DACA program.