Credit cards for illegal immigrants cause controversy

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY ---- One of the country's largest banks caused a storm of controversy when it recently began issuing credit cards to people without Social Security numbers, most of whom are believed to be illegal immigrants.

In response to the criticisms, Bank of America Corp. officials said last week that the pilot program, unveiled in the Los Angeles area, does not specifically target illegal immigrants and complies with all federal banking laws.

Critics say the bank is helping illegal immigrants live, work and prosper in the United States.


"Bank of America needs to realize that the citizens of America run this nation, not big business," said William Gheen, a spokesman for the National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition, a group urging people to protest the Bank of America program and other banks that serve illegal immigrants. "And the current law states it is a felony to aid and abet illegals inside the U.S.," he said.

Not everyone thinks pursuing customers who may be illegal immigrants is a new ---- or bad ---- idea.

"This is not new," said Raoul Lowery Contreras, an opinion columnist who occasionally contributes to the North County Times and who is a former real estate loan officer with Citibank. "It's been going on for years."

After requests for an interview by the North County Times, Bank of America replied in a written statement:

"The issue of customers' citizenship, tax paying status is not any bank's focus. Know your client, Patriot Act issues and compliance with any government required documentation are our concern. This matter reflects the reality of all banks, and many retailers and U.S. businesses."

Financial analysts say that many banks have been lending to illegal immigrants since the Treasury Department released regulations, under the anti-terrorism Patriot Act, saying that financial institutions could accept identification cards issued by foreign governments, including Mexico's card, called the matricula consular.

Critics of the matricula consular say it is not a secure document and therefore weakens protections intended under the Patriot Act. Supporters say that accepting it encourages immigrants to assimilate into the country's financial mainstream, making the system more secure.

Not accepting the card would "drive large sections of the U.S. population to underground financial services, and weaken the government's ability to enforce money laundering and terrorist financing laws," wrote former Treasury Secretary John Snow in a letter to Congress in 2004.

Immigrants offer customer potential

Latinos make up about 45 million of the nation's 300 million people. They also make up about 80 percent of the country's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Bringing illegal immigrants' predominantly underground economy into the mainstream makes fiscal sense, analysts say. And their numbers are vastly under estimated, according to Bob Justich, a senior managing director at Bear Sterns, an investment, securities trading and brokerage firm.

Justich wrote a report estimating that the illegal immigrant population is closer to 20 million and makes up about 8 percent of the work force in the United States. He and other analysts say immigrants from Latin America send home more than $40 billion each year.

Most of those remittances are sent though commercial wire services, but bank systems are growing fast in popularity among recent immigrants, according to a survey released in October by the Inter-American Development Bank, an internationally owned bank that promotes economic development in Latin America.

Of the estimated $45 billion sent home in 2006, $13 billion was sent by immigrants from California, according to the survey.

More than half of the 2,511 people surveyed said they used wiring services, such as Western Union, to send money. But the share of those who said they used banks to send money grew from 8 percent in 2004 to 19 percent in 2006, according to the report.

The report estimates that Latin American immigrants earn about $500 billion a year, most of which stays in the U.S. economy. But only about half of the respondents said they had bank accounts.

That means immigrants make very tempting potential customers for banks, Contreras said.

"These people generally deal in cash," he said. "So they have cash around, and (financial institutions) want it in the banks."

In recent years, banks in the United States have started offering checking accounts and mortgages to illegal immigrants. But illegal immigrants have had little access to credit cards, making it difficult for them to establish a credit history.

Credit history an issue for immigrants

Opening bank accounts and establishing a credit history helps immigrants working in low-wage jobs save money, said Consuelo Martinez, an immigrant rights activist in Escondido.

Martinez, who said she worked for five years in the banking industry, said immigrants often have to pay exorbitant fees to cash their paychecks, pay bills, send money home and get loans for large purchases.

"A lot of these people don't have credit, so they have to pay through their nose for a car loan," she said.

Bank of America's program allows people to use taxpayer identification numbers issued by the Internal Revenue Service to people without Social Security numbers to open credit card accounts.

The bank permits customers who have had a checking account for three months without overdrafts to qualify for a $500 line of credit. There is a $99 security payment, which is refundable within six months if the customer stays within the credit limit.

Kenneth Lewis, chief executive officer at Bank of America, wrote an opinion piece published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal defending the program. He said he has heard the complaints about the new credit offers, but plans to continue the program in Los Angeles.

He did not mention whether it would be expanded nationwide, as previously reported.

"We know some will find this unacceptable," Lewis wrote. "Even so, we feel we have a great obligation to live by the laws of the land and to serve our customers and to do our part to support the security of our nation's financial system."

Opposition mounting

Gheen, with the Boycott Coalition, said his group will continue to target banks that cater to illegal immigrants. As of Thursday, the group said it has collected through its Web site more than 12,000 petitions pledging to boycott Bank of America.

"Most Americans haven't been aware of this, but more and more people have been smelling a rat," Gheen said.

Gheen said his coalition includes nearly 100 organizations, including the North County-based San Diego Minutemen and San Diego Border Alert.

Some in Congress have also begun to take notice. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colorado, is a leading voice for tougher immigration enforcement. He recently called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to look into the matter.

"After Sept. 11, we were told that money was the lifeblood of terrorists, and that we should do everything possible to block their access to financial resources," Tancredo said in a statement. "Today, we are hearing a far different message: Bank of America, it's everywhere terrorists want to be."

Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach, said Thursday that he also wants Congress to review banking regulations under the Patriot Act.

"There is a conscious effort to circumvent the legislation," he said. "They may get away with it for awhile, but I think consumers will revolt."

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02 ... _24_07.txt