Years of Extending Loans To Illegal Aliens Have Contributed To Economic Crisis...Congress Silent!
By Dave Gibson (10/03/08)
In 2006, Bank of America quietly began offering credit cards to illegal aliens without Social Security numbers in five Los Angeles branches. By 2007, they expanded the program to 51 L.A. branches.
Los Angeles has the largest number of Mexican nationals of any U.S. city, and also has designated itself as a so-called ‘Sanctuary City’ for illegal aliens. While only those in the L.A. area could initially take advantage of the pilot program, Bank of America officials planned to make the practice available nationwide.
All of my inquiries to Bank of America on this issue have been ignored and I have not been able to determine if they have expanded this program outside of Los Angeles. BofA has become quite tight-lipped after receiving enormous criticism over this practice which many believe have helped to entice illegal aliens to remain in this country.
While offering credit cards to people who are here illegally and lack Social Security numbers, Bank of America has been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to illegal aliens for years. Lending giants Wells Fargo and Citibank are among those who have also extended home loans to illegal aliens.
In 2005, President of Immigration Matters Marti Dinerstein, angry over this practice, told CNN: “It’s institutionalizing illegality. Now there’s no distinction being made between the people that follow all the rules and those who break our laws by entering the country or overstaying their visas.”
An American cannot obtain a mortgage loan for a home unless he or she has government issued identification, established credit, and verifiable income. However, for several years, the banks have been giving mortgages to illegal aliens who lack all of these things.
Michelle Malkin recently wrote in the New York Post: “It's no coincidence that the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave - Loudoun County, Va., California's Inland Empire, Stockton and San Joaquin Valley, and Las Vegas and Phoenix - also happen to be some of the nation's largest illegal alien sanctuaries.”
Malkin went on to say: “Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime (the accursed species of loan to borrowers with the shadiest credit histories). A quarter of all those subprime loans are in default and foreclosure.” She also went on to point out bank advertising which proclaims: “Sin verificacion de ingresos! Sin verificacion de documento!” (“Without verification of earnings! Without verification of documents!”
Here is a list of U.S. banks (both regional and national) and mortgage insurers which are known to offer home loan programs targeted at illegal immigrants:
Banco Popular
Bank of America
Citigroup
Deutsche Bank AG
Fifth Third Bancorp
Genworth Financial Inc.
J.P. Morgan Chase
Liberty Financial
Mortgage Guarantee Insurance Corp.
Plaza Bank
Wachovia
Wells Fargo
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement reports that they deported over 280,500 illegal aliens during fiscal year 2007. ICE also reports that 41,428 of those deportations were voluntary. During the first quarter of FY2008, 94,237 were deported, on that pace, ICE should record 500,000 deportations for 2008.
Of course, not all here illegally leave to escape prosecution, nor ever come into contact with law enforcement. Many have left the country recently due to the same harsh economic realities which are affecting American citizens. They are leaving or at least moving to other states because they have lost their job and move to an area with a lower cost of living.
Given the very transient nature of illegal aliens, it is incredibly irresponsible to extend loans to them. Combined with the fact that these people have no Social Security numbers, nor any documentation to prove who they are or where they go, it is very easy to simply walk away from a home which they can no longer afford.
There are undoubtedly millions of Americans who would now welcome the opportunity to simply walk away without penalty, from homes and credit cards which they can no longer afford. Unlike illegal aliens, they would suffer with financial ruin and perpetually damaged credit.
We will continue to hear our politicians lay the blame for our economic woes at the feet of the Republican and Democratic Parties. We will hear liberal Congressmen point their fingers only at Wall Street. We will watch the CEO’s of brokerage firms lambasting Congress for the problem. We will even hear a few brave souls blame the American people themselves for this mess.
However, you will not hear one of those aforementioned accusers ever bring up the fact that because we have a President who has refused to defend our borders, and because we also have a corporate community which seems to have no loyalty to the American public, illegal aliens have been given a host of loans, many of which are now in default. Of course, we the American people are now expected to pay for it!
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