Oregon Nonprofit’s Down-Payment Assistance Offered to Noncitizen Homebuyers

An Oregon nonprofit offered up to $30,000 in down payment assistance to noncitizens only. Hacienda Community Development Corporation/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

A Portland-based housing support group, Hacienda Community Development Corporation, has been offering noncitizens up to $30,000 toward the down payment on a home through its Camino a Casa program.

Camino a Casa is described as “a loan program [that] helps people achieve the dream of homeownership by removing common entry barriers,” including the need to make a large down payment. It “aims⁢ to help new migrant homebuyers through financial coaching and housing⁢ counseling” as well.

It does so using a $692,775 grant from the state of Oregon’s Economic Equity Investment Program (EEIP).

Those funds were part of Oregon’s SB 1579, the bill that established the EEIP and provided $15 million for economic programs based partially on race, ethnicity, and citizenship status.

The bill’s goal in part is to “promote economic stability ... and ⁤economic equity among​ disadvantaged communities.”

According to a graphic circulated on social media and acquired by The Epoch Times, Camino a Casa’s taxpayer-funded mortgage assistance was advertised as only for those who are not American citizens.

An Oregon nonprofit offered up to $30,000 in down payment assistance to noncitizens only. Hacienda Community Development Corporation/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Hacienda Community Development Corporation did not respond to The Epoch Times’s requests for comment. The organization recently changed its outgoing message to indicate that it “could not respond due to an unprecedented number of calls.”

On Aug. 25, the organization’s CEO, Ernesto Fonseca, issued a statement saying “false information” about the program had been circulating online. He said U.S. citizens are not excluded.

“At the root of this are untrue claims about the people Hacienda serves. To be clear, we do not discriminate against anyone and serve all Oregonians equally,” he wrote. “A community flyer we created through an outside consultant misstated [the] program requirements.”

The organization’s flyer has sparked controversy in the sanctuary state, where affordable housing is difficult to find, say officials.

Officials Call for Action

Republican Oregon State Rep. Ed Diehl called the program “state-sponsored discrimination” and told The Epoch Times that he is “appalled that the hard-earned, limited tax dollars of Oregonians are being used to prioritize home ownership for certain non-U.S. citizens.”

Rep. Diehl said that the EEIP is “inherently unconstitutional,” pointing out that the state’s nonpartisan legislative counsel reported in February that portions of SB 1579 likely violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham called for an immediate review of the Camino a Casa program and a redirection of resources to tackle the housing crisis affecting Oregon residents.

“It is deeply troubling that while countless Oregonians are struggling to afford homes or even find affordable rental options, their tax dollars are being redirected to help noncitizens with down payments,” said Bonham in an email to The Epoch Times.

Oregon Republicans also said they are hoping to stem the flow of migration by rescinding the state’s sanctuary status this fall.

Oregon’s SB 1579 was signed into law in 2022 and provides grants to “culturally responsive,” community-based organizations supporting people with two or more “economic equity risk factors,” including racial discrimination, English proficiency, citizenship status, socioeconomic status, and rural residence.

The EEIP received an additional $8 million in funding as an earmark to an unrelated bill at the end of Oregon’s 2024 legislative session.

In a March 3 statement, Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said, “Oregonians are struggling under the pressure of an increasingly unaffordable housing market.”

In her first days in office, Kotek established a statewide housing production goal of 36,000 new units a year, compared with the 22,000 Oregon contractors were already building.