Thread: Nevada town considering banning banking by illegal immigrant

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/50505.html

PAHRUMP, Nev. (AP) - Nevada's banking community is worrying that a proposed local law in Nye County's largest community would bar illegal immigrants from opening accounts or cashing checks.

"How do I do business in Pahrump with an ordinance like this?" Bill Martin, president of Nevada State Bank, said of the proposed "English Language and Patriot Reaffirmation Ordinance."

The law would prohibit accepting foreign identification, offering housing, or loaning or giving money to undocumented immigrants in this fast-growing town 60 miles west of Las Vegas. It would make English the official language and prohibit flying a foreign flag by itself.

Officials said the identification provision could stop the town's banks from accepting as identification a card that since 2002 has issued by the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas.

The consulate has issued nearly 106,000 of the cards, which confirm the identity and current residence of the bearer. The cards are not an immigration document.


Wells Fargo Nevada regional chief Kirk Clausen said the identification provision posed a "huge concern" for banks. He said he planned to seek guidance from bankers associations.

Nevada State Bank has two branches in Pahrump, a town of 33,241 where the state demographer estimates the Hispanic population at about 11 percent. Martin questioned how a bank would enforce the ordinance.

"If they (customers) look Hispanic, do I ID them?" the Nevada State Bank official asked. "Can I profile? I don't think so."

Town Board member Michael Miraglia drafted the ordinance, making Pahrump the first Nevada municipality to attempt legislating immigration-related issues. Public comment and a vote could come as early as Nov. 7.

Other cities and towns in the nation have taken similar steps. Miraglia said he based parts of his proposal on Iowa legislation that he read about on the Internet, as well as federal law.

The trend of local governments trying to deal with immigration, which traditionally has been governed by federal law, has banking officials considering how they can monitor legislation affecting their industry, said Bill Uffelman, president of the Nevada Bankers Association.

John Guedry, association chairman, said it was difficult enough for banks to require identification before opening accounts.

"The more difficult it becomes, the more of a concern it is," he said. "If somebody pays a landscaper with a check, and it's a good check, and the landscaper comes in to cash the check, are we breaking the law if we cash the check?"

Just in time for the government to make it easier to send money back to Mexico. They talked about the new program on Lou.

Duplicate post

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=43680

I know that banks make it very difficult to get an account without a social security card, driver's license or an ID card. There is someone I know who actually had their bank account closed by Wachovia and they had to prove that they were indeed legal.

This post is a DUPLICATE and is being locked.

the original is posted only a few below.
http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=43680