Thread: VA Collegiate Times: BofA Supports Illegal Immigrants

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Bank of America supports illegal immigrants
By Dan Hemp
The Collegiate Times
(Virginia Tech)

Last Tuesday, it became public that Bank of America has implemented a new program that allows its customers to obtain a credit card without a Social Security number or any credit history. Apparently, the bank is marketing its new program to the large market of illegal immigrants in the United States. With the breaking of this story by the Wall Street Journal last week, an important aspect of the immigration debate that is often overlooked was brought to the forefront. Not only does being lax on border security undermine our respect for the rule of law, it impacts our ability to maintain our national security.
First of all, the concept of encouraging illegal immigrants to cross our border with no formal process of entry is unsafe in itself. As the world's lone superpower, we are the target of every extremist group in the world. If we trust other nations like Mexico to secure their own borders from dangerous terrorists instead of taking on the responsibility ourselves, we could indirectly aid people who want to do harm to our country by making it easier for them to get here.
It is not that farfetched that terrorists may be crossing the Mexican border to establish a sleeper cell in this country. Moreover, containers of biological weapons or other harmful substances could be smuggled across the border just as illegal drugs are brought here. Securing our border does not simply involve stemming the influx of illegal immigrants into the United States; it is a serious matter of national security as well.
Programs like the one created by Bank of America not only promote illegal immigration, they are dangerous to our homeland security. If illegals can receive credit cards with little background information, potential terrorists can take advantage of the same opportunities. As our society finds it less significant to document our citizens in the most basic ways, we become more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Without question, terrorists will use every loophole they can to enter our country.
In response to the news, some lawmakers were upset that the company would create a system that openly targets illegal immigrants as a new market. Representative Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., stated that ''this is something that is of deep concern to me, that Bank of America would choose to market to those that have chosen to break U.S. law to enter this country, and then they would give credit to them.'' Undoubtedly, corporations that engage in business practices that encourage breaking the law should reconsider their actions.
Representative Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., took an even tougher position on the issue. After hearing of the story, he responded by saying that ''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. Today we are hearing a far different message: Bank of America, it's everywhere terrorists want to be.'' Certainly, the new program could benefit extremists as well as illegal immigrants.
However, politicians in Washington, D.C., have participated in the same encouragement of illegal immigration as corporations. Now that Democrats control Congress, nothing will be done to fix the problem we face as more people enter our country illegally. In fact, the Democratic Party makes no secret about courting those who are currently illegal and granting them the right to vote later on. In essence, they are engaging in the same type of marketing as Bank of America -- except they want votes.
Hopefully, we won't have to pay the price of our failing to protect our laws and our national security. We need to reform the way we approach border security. If those who want to capitalize on new cheap markets and gullible voters have their way, we may end up facing serious consequences. With any luck however, we will come to our senses and focus on what is ultimately more essential than any other aspect of the debate. After all, our national security depends on it.

It's refreshing to see an article like this published in a college paper, especially one as large as Virginia Tech.