Thread: TN: Illegals denied Habitat housing

Click on the link below to vote in this poll:

Do you agree that immigrants must prove they are in this country legally to qualify for houses from Habitat for Humanity?
--------
--------
commercialappeal.com
Illegals denied Habitat housing
Immigrants required to be legal residents
By Daniel Connolly
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Immigrants must prove they're here legally and have the right to work in the United States before they receive low-cost homes through Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, the nonprofit organization has decided.

The organization's board of directors voted to adopt the rules this month, executive director Dwayne Spencer said Tuesday.

The decision wasn't based on concern about community reaction, he said.

"I think after simply delving into the subject matter ourselves, we realized it was the most responsible thing to do," he said.

The action ends uncertainty over Habitat's approach to the area's growing Hispanic population. Spencer said Habitat now plans to hold more recruiting events for Hispanics.

Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that uses donated labor and materials to build homes for the working poor. The recipients of the homes must contribute money and labor.

An overwhelming majority of Habitat's clients in Memphis are African-American. In February, Memphis Habitat joined the Hispanic Business Alliance to plan Habitat's first event to encourage Spanish-speakers to apply for the homes.

Several people attending the meeting at St. Paul Catholic Church filled out preliminary applications, the first step in a lengthy screening process. But at the time, the organization hadn't decided how to handle the question of immigration status.

Spencer said some citizens sent him e-mail messages after The Commercial Appeal wrote about the issue.

And some immigrants at the church asked how the nonprofit group would handle questions of immigration status, said Micheal Clark, Habitat's local director of family services.

He said he didn't know how many of those who filled out preliminary applications were here illegally.

"We realized we may have done that prematurely without some sort of stance on the immigration issue," Spencer said.

Atlanta-based Habitat for Humanity leaves decisions on immigration status to its affiliates around the nation. The Memphis board talked with other affiliates and chose to base its guidelines on the Federal Housing Administration's rules for mortgage insurance.

The rules adopted by the Memphis organization say that immigrants must have a valid Social Security number and authorization to work in the United States. The organization will check the documents with the federal government.

Other Habitat affiliates have adopted similar rules. For instance, the Dallas organization requires that recipients of the homes be legal immigrants or citizens, said spokeswoman Connie Boyd.

The New York City organization doesn't have an official policy on immigration status, but the long list of documents required would likely block illegal immigrants, said spokeswoman Beverly Cheuvront.

The issue of immigration status arises because a substantial number of immigrants in the Memphis area are here illegally.

The Census Bureau estimated that there were 34,000 Hispanics in Shelby County in 2006. Most are immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

There is no solid data on what proportion are here illegally, but a study by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation concluded that half of all immigrants in Arkansas don't have legal status. Interviews in the Memphis area suggest a similar percentage.

Contact Daniel Connolly at 529-5296.

New regulations

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis has made the following new rules:

Habitat will accept applications from permanent and nonpermanent immigrants who have a valid Social Security number.

Evidence of residency and work status will be verified with the federal government.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... t-housing/

Good....illegal aliens do not need to receive free new housing here.

I'm starting to conclude that the entire Habitat effort is way off the track. It's supposed to be a Christian organization but builds houses for couples who shack up. It's volunteers take five times as long to do anything as a skilled craftsman. It seems to be definitely racially slanted.

In its projects overseas I would like to see some instances of cohesive community development; not just randomly placed homes. I guess helping out single mothers with several children is a noble effort.

There has to be something beyond simple means testing. There are a lot of good people helping out, but I'm a little confused about the overall direction.

The issue of immigration status arises because a substantial number of immigrants in the Memphis area are here illegally.

Wrong. Immigration is a lawful process. Foreign national invaders are not "immigrants."

Excellent. I had not even thought about this until Populist posted this article. It makes pefect common sense AND abides by the law. Good decision, Habitat for Humanity.

Do you agree that immigrants must prove they are in this country legally to qualify for houses from Habitat for Humanity?

Yes 97% 41 votes
No 2% 1 vote

42 total votes

Poll site:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... t-housing/

Do you agree that immigrants must prove they are in this country legally to qualify for houses from Habitat for Humanity?
Thanks for your vote.

Yes 97% 46 votes
No 2% 1 vote
47 total votes

Do you agree that immigrants must prove they are in this country legally to qualify for houses from Habitat for Humanity?

Thanks for your vote.
Yes 98% 79 votes
No 1% 1 vote
80 total votes

Do you agree that immigrants must prove they are in this country legally to qualify for houses from Habitat for Humanity?

Yes 99% 107 votes
No 0% 1 vote
108 total votes

Originally Posted by Captainron

I'm starting to conclude that the entire Habitat effort is way off the track. It's supposed to be a Christian organization but builds houses for couples who shack up. It's volunteers take five times as long to do anything as a skilled craftsman. It seems to be definitely racially slanted.

In its projects overseas I would like to see some instances of cohesive community development; not just randomly placed homes. I guess helping out single mothers with several children is a noble effort.

There has to be something beyond simple means testing. There are a lot of good people helping out, but I'm a little confused about the overall direction.

Too bad they can't hire some of our American carpenters and roofers who are out of work due to illegal aliens.
I am glad to see any organization put the welfare of Americans before the welfare of illegal aliens. Who wants to be that La Raza and MALDEF will get wind of this, threaten lawsuits and force H for H to back down? I can just hear that old bat from La Raza now.