QotD
"I think no one has really looked at the impact of the
crackdown on the illegal immigration and what role it has played,
both in the housing bust, and in the turn in the economy.
"You know, immigrants are, in many respects, including
illegal aliens, they're like the canaries in the mine shaft. They
tell us, they give us early warning signals that there are problems.
You know, most people in this country, I think, would believe that
illegal immigration right now is at an all time high.
"In fact, it's not. It's about half what it was at the peak
period, which was in 1995 to 2000. So, you know, I actually believe
that what you're seeing in terms of the illegal immigration issue,
a lot of the people who were here, working hard, very productive
folks, were trying to get a foothold, trying to get a slice of the
American dream. And many of them actually did try to buy houses,
and some of them did succeed in buying houses. When you had this
crackdown, that's sort of they were many of the people in these
sub-prime loans. That was the beginning."
-- Linda Chavez,
2008-10-17, on the PBS television program,
Bill Moyers
Journal</p>