INVASION USA
Lawmaker battles Bank of America illegals policy
Pulls her accounts from biggest donor, co-sponsors bills against 'de facto amnesty'

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Posted: March 20, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C.
A Republican congresswoman is pulling her accounts from Bank of America, one of her biggest donors, and co-sponsoring a bill against the bank's controversial policy of doing business with illegal aliens.

Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina is backing a bill that would limit the forms of identification banks can accept from customers, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported. Bank of America offers credit cards to customers who don't have Social Security numbers, which makes the cards available to illegals.

"I have been with them for a long time, but this was just the straw that breaks the camel's back in my mind," said Myrick, according to the Journal. "If I believe something, I'm going to stand by my principles. I'm not going to be a hypocrite and have my banking there and feel the way I do."

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As WND has reported, dozens of major U.S. banking institutions led by Bank of America are implementing what critics say amounts to a nationwide amnesty program for illegals by accepting matricula consular cards issued by Mexico.

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

Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis, insisting the bank is operating within the law, explained his company does not want to discriminate against customers eligible for its services, the Journal reported. He contended more than 80 percent of applicants have Social Security numbers.

The congressional bill, called The Photo Identification Security Act, would require customers to present only Social Security cards, passports or U.S. citizenship and immigration services photo ID cards to open an account.

The law currently allows alternate forms of identification, such as an individual taxpayer identification number or a matricula consular.

Defending the banks, Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., a member House Financial Services Committee, believes it's unreasonable to ask them to check their customers' immigration status.

"It's not an issue that I think is high on a lot of people's radar screens," he told the Journal.

The banks' plan originally was outlined in a report by the Center for Immigration Studies four years ago. It's gaining attention now only because the Mexican government has been flying under the radar by working with local and area jurisdictions, instead of national leaders.

The report contends Mexico effectively is bypassing the federal government.

Mexico's "new approach has become a direct challenge to U.S. sovereignty – by aggressively lobbying state and local governments, Mexico is changing America's de facto immigration policy in lieu of congressional action," said the report.



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