Republicans have long accused Democrats of embracing mass illegal immigration as a way to ensure permanent majority status in key states as well as nationally, and now, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to have validated those concerns.

During an interview last week with HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher, the California Democrat and comedian delved into recent legislation passed in the state that would give illegal immigrants up to $150,000 in state funding to buy a home — legislation that has since been vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“The bill, AB 1840, would require the California Housing Finance Authority’s home purchase assistance program, or California Dream for All Program, to include illegal immigrants’ applications,” Fox News reported, adding that it had already cleared the state Senate.

“Giving government assistance to undocumented immigrants to buy houses; that’s kind of a different place than the Democratic Party used to be on immigration,” Maher said.

Pelosi responded by claiming that assistance for illegal aliens has always been a “bipartisan” issue.

“Well, it’s not free housing. It’s the American dream, being available to more people. But understand this about immigration. The best speech on immigration was by President Ronald Reagan,” she said, though Reagan and Republicans never advocated for taxpayer-funding housing for illegal immigrants.

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“And he talked about the Statue of Liberty and the beacon of hope it is to the world and what America was preeminent in the world because our door was always open. And we will cease to be preeminent when we shut the door,” Pelosi said.

“So you’d vote for this law?” Maher inquired.

“Well, I don’t – I’m not familiar with exactly what it is, but making the American dream of home ownership available to all people is something we have to do for people who are here now,” Pelosi responded, at which point the comedian host noted that the taxpayer-funded housing will be given to “undocumented” migrants while the state and its citizens deal with a housing crisis.

“Well, what I would like to do is move them to documented,” Pelosi said. “One of the best things that we can do for our economy is to pass comprehensive immigration reform.”

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher of Yuba City contended that the legislation would worsen the border crisis, exacerbate the housing crisis, and increase the cost of living in the state.

“I didn’t know it was possible to make the border crisis and the housing crisis worse with just one vote, but Democrats found a way,” Gallagher said. “Giving taxpayer-funded housing subsidies to illegal immigrants will drive costs even higher and encourage more chaos at the border.”

“This is crazy, and it needs to stop,” he said.

In his veto message, the Democratic governor explained that there simply aren’t enough funds to cover a bigger pool of applicants.

“This bill seeks to prohibit the disqualification of applicants from one of California Housing Finance Agency’s (CalHFA) home-purchase assistance programs based solely on their immigration status,” Newsom wrote in a statement, according to Newsweek.

“Given the finite funding available for CalHFA programs, expanding program eligibility must be carefully considered within the broader context of the annual state budget to ensure we manage our resources effectively. For this reason, I am unable to sign this bill,” he added.

California is grappling with a $27.6 billion budget deficit for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The California GOP criticized Democrats for pushing AB 1840 amidst the state’s fiscal challenges, arguing that such legislation is ill-timed given the budgetary shortfall.

“California suffers from rampant crime, a homeless crisis, failing public education and a massive budget deficit, but instead of tackling those issues, California Democrats are passing extreme housing policies that are a complete slap in the face to the 86 percent of Californians who can’t afford to purchase a home in the state,” CAGOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson told Newsweek.