CC for undocumenteds
 

BOA is producing credit cards for undocumented emigrants. I presume it will be a good first card for newcomers as well.

It's on NPR at the moment. Check "Talk of the Nation" after 3:00PM

Edit: http://www.npr.org/templates/rundown...wn.php?prgId=5

Re: CC for undocumenteds
 

Listening right now

Re: CC for undocumenteds
 

i think that illegal immigration is wrong and unlawful. now it's bank of america offering credit cards and last year it was wells fargo who announced it was offering home loans to illegal immigrants.

imo anytime you have a bank lending money to help people buy homes when they're not even allowed to be in the country because they are illegal, it is something that runs contrary to the law, surely it aids and abets people who are breaking the law :confused:

it's about time the powers that be increased the penalty to the wealthy business owners who are hiring the illegal immigrants in the first place.

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Exactly and considering what those of us have to go through to be here legally:mad:

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Bloody 'ell.

We get so many newcomers looking for ways to get started on a credit rating that I put this up as a possible start. The rest is beside the point.

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Exactly, and thank you for posting, Michael - I'm sure it'll be useful for some.

As for BoA, it's a business decision. If these illegal mortgage holders default because they are deported, the bank will be left holding the deeds...

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Point taken:o

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It's obvious why Bank of America wants to offer banking facilities to illegals.

There is a *huge* amount of money to be made from all the international money transfers. Western Union has the monopoly (you don't need a bank account to send money abroad) and BoA wants a slice of the pie. It's a multi-million dollar business - see how much it would cost you to send money back to Blighty if you use WU:

http://www.westernunion.com/index_consumer.asp

On the other hand......it may be very useful for my 18 year old son. We are indeed legal residents in the US but he is on an L2 dependent visa. We have approached a number of banks to try and open a bank account for him in his name and without a Social Security number (which he isn't allowed to have on his L2 visa as he isn't allowed to work in the USA), the banks didn't want to know. He had to open a savings account jointly with his father.

We may very well see if we can open a BoA account for our son, especially as he will be off to college later this year.

Re: CC for undocumenteds
 

Perhaps if it was profitable BoA should go around shooting people too then ??
Ultimately if they aren't breaking the law explicitly then they are aiding and abetting the breaking of the law by illegal immigrants.

Personally I would not recommend any legal immigrant accessing facilities provided for illegals for obvious reasons.

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It would be interesting to see what the Banks would say if you pressured then into giving a reason for refusing your son's account application.
It is illegal for them to refuse you based on lack of a SSN alone and a few shouts of lawsuit might bring about a change of heart.

I'm also amazed that the bank you and your husband use wouldn't help out - might be worth taking your business elsewhere.

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I'm surprised to hear that. Our daughter got her SS number a few days after we arrived in '96. You may be able to open a savings account linked to your checking account for him. He will then be able to have a debit card for the account thus using it as a checking account. We had to do this before our daughter was 18 'cos NJ banking laws will not allow CC's for under 18's.

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Aha!

He only turned 18 in late October and I know that I made the enquiries when he was still 17. I guess that he can now have a bank account and debit or credit card in his own right - will check it out.

Actually Jersey - the regs must have changed since 1996 about whom is eligible for SSNs. I wasn't allowed to have one when I first moved here in July 2000. It was only when the President signed the Act allowing L2 (and E2?) spouses to work that I was allowed to apply for a SSN. Unfortunately children of L1 visa holders cannot apply for work authorisation and therefore can't have a SSN.

When my son needed to apply for a driving licence we had to go to the social security office to get a letter to say that he was ineligible for a SSN, as did I when I first moved here. A lot of hassle it was too. :frown:

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I was under the impression when we came here that I couldn't work...but after a few weeks I received a work authorisation card. I quickly threw it in the shredder. LOL. All three of us obtained our SS numbers within the first week. Although I wasn't aware of it at the time...I suppose it must have made our daughter's life a lot easier.

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Whilst it is true that your son cannot get a SSN as long as he is in L2 status, there is no reason why he cannot open a bank account without one. Unfortunately many bank officials know F-All about this and will try and fob you off. Insist on speaking to someone senior.

My sons were able to open accounts with BoA long when they were about 15 - long before they got their SSNs.

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All that said, this is no longer simply a question of what is lawful and what is not. Illegal immigration into the US (most notably from south of the border) is a problem that must be faced rather than just ignored or railed against. So much of the agricultural economy of California depends upon illegal workers. Of course there are machines that could do the same job, but they are more expensive and, I think I am right in saying, that the strawberry crop for example is far to delicate to be harvested mechanically. Therefore, if every illegal worker was suddenly sent packing (pardon the pun) it would be disastrous for many american sectors of industry.

To merely say that it is unlawful and wrong does nothing but state the obvious without addressing the problem in any useful or meaningful way. This is why even Bush is talking about a guest worker program.

Also, at the end of the day, most of these illegal aliens are not malicious criminals but rather migrant workers fleeing extreme poverty and third world conditions. They add far more to the economy of the united states than they get back from it and probably, on the whole, contribute more than the whole of BE put together in terms of labour equalling profits. I am not certain what the annual gross profits from California's agricultural and packing industries come to but I would guess it is a whole lot more than we here contribute financially.

And yes, it is frustrating, worrying, exhausting and expensive to come and live in the US through accepted legal channels, but that is the price we pay to be secure in the knowledge that at the end of it all, we will most likely have a decent standard of living and a decent living wage as appose to existing ten to a room in some Californian basement and having to risk our very lives if we get the urge to go home and visit the folks.

So, instead of the usual - it is wrong, it is unlawful and nothing anybody says or does will change that, a more constructive approach is needed. Give them credit cards, give them home loans and maybe then, one day, they will become legal citizens and we can really start complaining, this time about all these former illegals getting health care and welfare benefits.

Apols for this post meandering a little, but as we all know this is a very emotive issue on BE and in the rest of the US so there is always more to say than there is space to say it. That's my two bobswoth anyway.