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FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 2007
Bank at center of firestorm
Credit cards for illegal immigrants nothing new in industry
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When news broke that Bank of America Corp. was testing a new credit card available to customers who may be illegal immigrants, the reaction was predictably harsh.
Outspoken critics of illegal immigration called for a bcoccott and said the bank could be supporting terrorists and drug traffickers. Some outraged customers closed accounts and sent back their cards, chopped into little pieces. The bank's chief executive, Ken Lewis, admitted that "finding oneself in the middle of a heated national debate is never pleasant."
But Bank of America isn't the first to offer such a card: Citigroup Inc, said it has done so for years, and Wells Fargo & Co. says it's thinking about it. The cards are merely the latest progression for an industry that has spent millions to attract customers in the country's growing Latino community — and among the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.
They also reflect a fact faced by every retail business in the United
States. While they can't legally employ undocumented workers, there are few, if any, restrictions on welcoming them as customers.
"As a business owner, you sell to whomever comes into your store. You sell to whomever buys from you online. It's easy, normally," said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington. "Just in some cases where specific identification is needed, like in financial services, it's more complicated."
But getting less so. Last month, Bank of America said it had started a pilot program in the Los Angeles area last late year that didn't require a Social Security number to sign up for a credit card. The Charlotte-based bank insists the card isn't specifically designed to attract illegal immigrants, and says that so far, it has not.
The bank hasn't decided if it will offer the card elsewhere, but it would likely be popular with a population that generally lacks access to something as common in most American wallets as the dollar bill and a driver's license.
large market," said Jim Johnson, director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The bank is just the latest example of a major corporation recognizing the impact of doing business with Hispanics."
"It's a no-brainer. It's a very
In 2005, the nation's 6.6 million illegal immigrant families had an average annual income of $29,500 and accounted for nearly $200 billion in purchasing power, a figure that's only expected to grow, said Pew Hispanic Center demographer Jeff Passel.
"They are impacting the economy," Passel said. "The unauthorized are explicitly coming for an economic basis."
While credit card use among the nation's 42 million Hispanics is on the rise, a substantial number of Latino households don't have access to credit, according a survey conducted by the National Council of La Raza, which found that 80 percent of American households use credit cards compared with only 56 percent of Hispanic households.
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Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, center, Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arr., right, and Dumas Mayor Marion Gill speak with Lisa Dritschler while surveying the tornado-damaged town of Dumas, Ark., on Monday.
Tornadoes kill 13 in Alabama
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ENTERPRIZE, Ala. — Apparent tornadoes killed at least 13 people in Alabama on Thursday, including eight at a high school where students were trapped under a collapsed roof, state officials said.
State Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Yasamie Richardson said eight fatalities "are in relation to the high school but whether they are all students or some students and teachers were not sure."
WEATHER
House Speaker Seth Hammett.
at the statehouse in Montgomery,
announced that five people had died
at Miller's Ferry in west Alabama;
where another apparent tornado tore
into mobile homes.
Martha Rodriguez, a 15-year-old sophomore, said she had left the school about five minutes before the storm hit. When she returned, a hall at the school had collapsed, she said.
"The stadium was destroyed and there were cars tipped over in the parking lot and trees were ripped out. There were trees and wood everywhere. It was just horrible."
she said.
More than 40 people were brought in to an Enterprise hospital as a violent storm front crossed the state. The same system was blamed for a tornado that killed a 7-year-old girl in Missouri.
Several school systems across Alabama closed or dismissed students early Thursday as the storm front approached from the west, extending the length of the state.
"The clouds were so dark that all the lights out here came on," said Walter Thornton, who works at Enterprise Municipal Airport.
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