"Read the article linked by Amos and then tell us if you still blame immigrants for the economic meltdown."


                I don't think anyone suggested that immigrants are to blame for the economic meltdown. First, one needs to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. From there, assuming you are only talking about "illegal immigrants," the point that I was trying to make--and I think pdq agrees with--is that illegal immigrants contributed to the housing crisis.
               The point that I was trying to make in all of this is: if a lender is holding paper on a foreclosed house, and the buyer is legalling in the country, the lender has some recourse against the buyer. If the buyer is not legally in the country, the buyer can just go home. He/she has little motivation to try to save the situation. There is nothing the lender can do; the lender should not have made that loan.
               That might account for why Stockton, CA, and other places in the California Central Valley have higher rates of foreclosure than the rest of the country. I think it is the reason.