Carlos Diaz broke the law when he crossed the border and took a job as an office janitor. But he's not about to break another by failing to pay his income tax.

"I've been talking to other people who've done it, and I want to follow the law," said Diaz, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala who squirmed in his seat at a neighborhood tax preparer's office.

Tuesday is Tax Day, when millions of illegal immigrants find themselves collaborating with one federal agency - the Internal Revenue Service - while trying to avoid another - Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They hope a track record of on-time payments will aid their citizenship applications, but critics who favor tougher enforcement of federal immigration rules say it's absurd for the government to work with people it should be tracking down and deporting. It legitimizes the presence of immigrants who are here illegally, critics say, and sends a mixed message about the country's interest in enforcing its own rules.

By Juliana Barbassa
Associated Press
April 12, 2007

Topics: Illegal Immigration, Illegal Aliens, Undocumented Immigrants, Income Tax Illegal Immigrants, ITIN Numbers, Social Security Fraud, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Boycott Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank,

EASTON | Two of the nine suspected illegal immigrants detained Monday when they arrived for work at Hotel Bethlehem had criminal records, District Attorney John Morganelli said Tuesday.

Morganelli said Flor Rocha, of Falls Church, Va., was wanted in California for a dangerous drugs charge, but officials wouldn't extradite him back to California. Juan Carlos Hinjosa, of Springfield, Va., was wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after he was arrested in February 2005.

The illegal immigrants -- seven from Bolivia, one from El Salvador and one from Guatemala -- were working for a subcontractor putting up drywall at the hotel. Morganelli received a complaint that led to the investigation and apprehension of the nine men.

Morganelli said the subcontractor was a Virginia-based company which claims the men were individual contractors.

By Sarah Cassey
The Express-Times
April 4, 2007

Topics: Boycott Bank of America, Illegal Alien Criminals, Illegal Immigrant Criminals, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Illegal Immigrants Credit Cards, Illegal Aliens Credit Cards,

Kenneth W. Davis, owner of Great Western Drilling Company, told the Reporter-Telegram in a phone conversation from his Fort Worth office his company, which maintains offices in Midland and seven other cities, no longer will do business with Bank of America.

Davis' objection is based on a pilot program the company began in Los Angeles County, Calif. last month that permits customers who have had a checking account in good standing for three months to receive a credit card with a tax identification number in lieu of a Social Security number and a Matricula Consular card, which are issued by Mexican consuls, rather than a driver's license or other form of identification issued by the United States government.

Activists working to secure U.S. borders and bring illegal immigration under control say Mexican banks are tougher on Mexicans than U.S. institutions are, refusing to accept as valid IDs those matricula consular cards Mexico issues.

As WND has reported, dozens of major United States banking institutions led by Bank of America are implementing a nationwide amnesty program for illegals by accepting the cards issued by consulates and described by critics as a "laminated piece of paper."

But officials with Americans for Legal Immigration say they've documented refusals by several large Mexican banking corporations to accept the same documentation.

Topics: Illegal immigration, Mexican banks, Matricula consular cards, Bank of America, consulates, video, William Gheen, ALIPAC, boycott, banks, Wells Fargo, Citibank, amnesty plan, U.S. sovereignty, Washington DC, law enforcement, driver's license, aiding and abetting, U.S. Treasury Department