News Home
Foxx bill would add checks on U.S. loans
Washington, DC,
December 16, 2005
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, has proposed legislation that would require more checks to prevent illegal immigrants from getting federally guaranteed loans.
Illegal immigrants are focus of proposal By Mary M. Shaffrey Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, has proposed legislation that would require more checks to prevent illegal immigrants from getting federally guaranteed loans. Foxx proposed an amendment to immigration legislation under consideration this week. The proposal came after Foxx learned that a man, who police say is living in the country illegally, bought a home in Winston-Salem with a $123,000 loan guaranteed by the federal government. The man also is accused in several rapes in the Triad. Gilberto Cruz Hernandez, 24, has been arrested and charged in connection with a string of rapes and sexual assaults in Winston-Salem, High Point and Greensboro. He is being held in the Forsyth County Jail with bond set at $3 million. Winston-Salem police charged Hernandez on Oct. 28 after DNA evidence linked him to sexual assaults that were reported earlier in the year. A few days after his arrest, he was charged in connection with three sexual assaults that were reported in Greensboro in May 2004 and January and February this year. Hernandez had been deported to Mexico twice, but he returned to the United States, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and bought a home. "This is just crazy that the federal government is guaranteeing loans for illegal aliens," Foxx said. "If we are going to ask employers to verify (the status of) employees, it makes sense that we hold the government to the same standard." The main immigration bill, which Foxx co-sponsored, would increase fines against employers who hire illegal immigrants. Businesses would be required to verify the status of immigrant workers. Eric Rodriguez, the director of the policy center at the National Council of La Raza, a group that lobbies for immigrants, said that Foxx's bill was not necessary because existing federal guidelines are already supposed to bar the government from issuing loans to illegal immigrants. • Mary M. Shaffrey can be reached in Washington at (202) 662-7672 or at mshaffrey@wsjournal.com • The Associated Press contributed to this story. |