Bank of Illegals

Pittsburg-Tribune Review
Editorial

By Dimitri Vassilaros

Wed. Feb. 28, 2007

Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis should rename his institution the Bank of Latin America. It's a crime that Mr. Lewis and his acolytes inside the Beltway act as if the United States is populated by fools. The audacity is world-class.
Lewis says marketing credit cards to customers who don't have Social Security numbers -- essentially illegal aliens -- doesn't mean the bank deliberately markets to illegals. So, is Bank of America poised to roll out a program to attract new customers such as money launderers and those who bankroll terrorism?

The USA Patriot Act (passed after 9/11) allows financial institutions to accept Mexico's Matricula Consular card -- an ID issued by Mexican consulates -- as official identification. Lewis calls that "a key tool in our efforts to ensure that our financial systems are not used for illegal purposes."

But that card is so suspect that Mexico -- the country that issues it -- does not accept it as a valid form of voter identification. In fact, banks based in Mexico do not accept it as valid ID.

Some tool.

Bank of America this week bowed a new advertising campaign. The new slogan, a "Bank of Opportunity," certainly is more fitting than the old one -- "Higher Standards."

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