Thread: Vitter Bill would stop banks from issuing credit cards to IA

From FAIR:
Senator Vitter Takes Steps to Stop Banks from Granting Credit Cards to Illegal Aliens

Last week, Senator Vitter introduced an important piece of legislation that would help stop banks from granting credit cards to illegal aliens. The bill (S. 2393) accomplishes this by limiting the types of identification banks may accept for the purpose of opening accounts, and subsequently issuing credit cards.

The requirement for identification to open a bank account was the result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The 9/11 Commission investigation revealed how the 9/11 hijackers opened bank accounts in large national banks and smaller regional banks. They then obtained credit cards and ATM cards, which they used to help conduct daily activities in the United States.

To prevent U.S. banks from facilitating or "micro-financing" terrorist activities in the U.S., Congress added Section 326 to the USA Patriot Act (P.L. 107-56) which was enacted in October 2001. Section 326 required that financial institutions verify the identity of their customers by requiring certain documentation. Unfortunately, the Treasury regulations that were established under the Patriot Act were designed to help big business and the banking industry by expressly allowing foreign issued identity documents, such as the matricula consular card, to serve as valid identification for the purpose of opening a bank account.

This regulation has frustrated many who understood that the true purpose of the Patriot Act was to crack down on banking practices that aid criminal activity. Matricula consular cards have long been issued by foreign governments, such as the Mexican Government, to assist their nationals in establishing themselves in foreign countries, including the United States. (House Immigration Subcommittee Hearing on Consular Cards, June 19, 2003) Neither the Justice Department nor the FBI considers these cards to be a reliable form of identification because of the ease with which they can be fraudulently obtained. (Testimony of Steve McCraw, Assistant Director of The Office of Intelligence, FBI Before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims on Consular ID Cards, June 26, 2003) Nonetheless, according to the National Council of La Raza, in 2004, over 350 financial institutions accepted these matricula consular cards as proof of identity. (Consumer Action, December 2006) This means that any illegal alien, who has come to the U.S. to work or to engage in other criminal activity and who also has a foreign issued ID document, may still open bank accounts and obtain credit cards to help them stay in the U.S. illegally.

S. 2393, introduced by Senator Vitter, would stop this practice by putting strict limits on the types of identification documents that may be used to open bank accounts. These include: (1) a social security number; (2) a valid foreign passport; and (3) an alien registration number. This change would allow legal aliens to open bank accounts, but would greatly reduce the ability of illegal aliens to open them.

Contact your Senator and ask them to co-sponsor S. 2393
Senate contact info: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_i ... rs_cfm.cfm

Consider it DONE !

Done!

They should not be able to one single thing here except GO HOME!!!!!!!!

Thanks magyart & JAK. You are GREAT AMERICANS.