Feds Jump on Illegal Immigrant Credit Card Debate

It seems the Federal government is officially jumping on board with the credit cards for immigrants controversy that has been discussed on this blog.  First, Bank of America announced its pilot credit card program that was quite lenient on its requirements that targeted Los Angeles County, which has a very high Latino population.  Soon after, Wells Fargo & Co announced that they are considering a similar program.

These moves have been made controversial by the fact that they appear to be targeting illegal immigrants.  In part, folks are upset because it seems these programs may be trying to take advantage of these immigrants.  Yet others are upset by the fact that these programs make it easier for illegal immigrants to remain in the country without proper clearance.  Yet others worry about the fact that these individuals will be able to get a credit card with little to no documentation confirming who they are.  As the controversy continues to gain more momentum and those against these credit cards plan a national boycott, the House had decided to start moving forward on taking action.

On March 5, Rep. Marsha Blackburn , a Republican from Tennessee, introduced a new Act dealing with the controversy.  Titled the Photo Identification Security Act, it proposes requiring all United States financial institutions to require secure forms of identification in order to open accounts.  These forms of identification include a foreign or US passport, a Social Security card along with a state or federal ID, or a Citizenship and Immigration Services photo ID card.

As a result of the identification requirements proposed by this bill, only legal residents of the United States will be able to conduct financial transactions.  In addition, the bill makes it so only United States residents are eligible for federal benefits. 

Blackburn has indicated that offering credit cards to illegal immigrants with little to no identification has left many Americans feeling uneasy, stating that “The American people deserve to know that the integrity and security of our financial institutions will remain intact.  This bill closes a critical loophole that banking institutions have used to circumvent the letter of the law they have used to target illegal aliens as a new source of revenue.”

Blackburn goes on to coin a phrase to go along with her proposed bill:  “You can’t get a Visa without a visa.”

Very creative – let’s wait and see what her fellow lawmakers think.

Related Posts:

• Bank of America Feeling Backlash from Credit Card Program - Bank of America is feeling the backlash from its controversial decision to market credit cards toward illegal immigrants. The card, which is...
• New Card Offered for Immigrants - It seems that all of the flack Bank of America received for offering credit cards that were obviously geared toward illegal immigrants...
• Bank of America Offering Cards to Immigrants - Bank of America (B of A) has stirred up a great deal of controversy recently with its decision to offer credit cards...
• Jump on Those Holiday Bills - Now that the holidays are over, you might already be getting some of those credit card bills from your holiday gift purchases....

Tagged as: credit cards, Security & Technology