Thread: Documents help illegal immigrants get accounts

Documents help illegal immigrants get accounts

Sunday, Sep 16, 2007 - 12:05 AM

With the right documentation, illegal immigrants can open accounts and get mortgages at some banks.

Banks speak cautiously about the issue because of the immigration debate, but some accept documents often issued to illegal immigrants.

"Confirmation of the legal status of an immigrant, per se, is not a criterion for account opening," said W. Scott Sims, executive vice president and retail administrator for central Virginia for SunTrust Banks Inc. "However, the ability of an individual to identify himself/herself using reliable documents that satisfy SunTrust's documentation requirements is essential."

Bob Denham, director of executive communications for BB&T, said the bank complies with the U.S. Patriot Act. "We would never intentionally provide bank services to anyone who is not eligible to receive them," he said.

The act requires that banks establish a customer's identity, which includes name, date of birth, address, identification number and government-issued ID.

Illegal immigrants may not have U.S. government-issued documents, but many of them have IDs called "matriculas" issued by Latin American consulates in the United States.

They also may have individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITIN, issued by the Internal Revenue Service to those who do not qualify for a Social Security number.

For some banks, these two documents fill the act's requirements to open accounts. A few mortgage lenders and banks offer ITIN mortgages. -- Juan Antonio Lizama

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/comm ... -0312.html

This is laughable. Two of the most faked pieces of ID on the planet and the banks accept them as "proof" of identity. And who's identity are they proving?

Too bad the guy talking about the ITINS wasn't here when the Feds showed up with a warrant for a former tenant. He's wanted for obtaining no less than 23 ITINS....to sell......using different variations of his name to get them.

I'm sorry, but these damned banks are just asking for everything they get.