Talk about a polarizing issue. Bring up illegal immigrants or immigration in general at a party and you're likely to set off quite a debate.

Americans have varying views on the subject and those views have undoubtedly changed since 9/11. On one hand this country was built by immigration, on the other hand the world evolves and having an open door policy may no longer be practical, even for a country built on immigration.

I am sure most Americans want immigration laws to be followed. They want to know that people who come to this great country come in legally, through the proper channels. However, we all know that's not the case. Our borders are breached daily by illegal immigrants, many from Mexico. What do we do once they are here?

Let's look at the aspect of the debate that is pertinent to credit unions–whether or not to offer financial services to undocumented immigrants.

I was fascinated by Bank of America's recent move to offer credit cards to people without Social Security numbers. Many banks, notably Wells Fargo, have courted undocumented immigrants, but BofA's move was unprecedented in that it was offering a credit card, potentially a tool to build their credit history. BofA only requires the person have a bank account for three months without an overdraft.

So you have one of the nation's largest banks offering credit to undocumented immigrants who are most likely in this country illegally. Is that anti-American?

This is hard to do, but I think credit unions have to put their patriotic beliefs aside on this issue. The fact is BofA is putting itself in a great position with the Hispanic population–the fastest growing minority group in the country.

BofA may not be doing it for altruistic reasons. It says it wants to help these undocumented immigrants have a better quality of life. And of course there is the other well-known argument of safety. There have been many incidents of illegal immigrants being robbed. They are paid in cash, so they are great targets for crooks.

There needs to be a level of common sense here. Credit unions aren't contributing to the illegal immigration problem by offering financial services. In fact, they are doing a service. If the government wants to crack down and get tough and start deporting these immigrants, whether they have a BofA card or not isn't going to make a difference.

I say serve them. Serve them and you are taking away one more customer base for the real bad guys–the payday lenders. Serve them and you are helping the security issue facing illegals carrying lots of cash. Serve them and you are getting closer to the Hispanic population, which is undoubtedly going to be important for future growth.

Personally, I am against an open door policy. I don't think people should be able to cross the border illegally, but financial institutions don't guard the borders. They should not avoid serving them once they are here. The more alienated they are in essence makes the immigration problem worse–crime, poverty, etc. And that's not good for any of us.

This is not an easy issue, but I'd hate to see credit unions not serve undocumented immigrants because they are concerned about the bigger issue of illegal immigration. They are indeed two very different issues.

Desert Schools, located in Phoenix, is an example of a credit union trying to find balance on this issue. It is located in an area with one of the largest bases of immigrants in the country. It has policies and procedures in place to deal with undocumented workers who want to do business with the credit union. It makes only certain products available. It follows all of the anti-terrorism regulations, but offers some flexibility in the account opening process on the documentation side. Desert Schools is very diligent in verifying mailing addresses and other things to ensure the person is who they say they are. I spoke with the CU and they are careful to point out that they are not courting these undocumented immigrants. In fact they hope their program is attracting documented immigrants.

This is where the struggle is. Even credit unions that have products geared for immigrants don't necessarily want to make it known. Maybe it's time credit unions not tip toe around this issue any longer. Why should credit unions let BofA get out in front with this population? Credit unions are the best friend of low-income workers, not banks. –Comments? pgentile@cutimes.com

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Serving Immigrants is a Red, White and Blue...and Green Issue

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