DALLAS — With reports showing that hate crimes against immigrants have been up since 2004, Janice Bowdler, associate director of National Council of La Raza and George Hofhiemer, chief research officer at the Filene Institute, discussed public policy as it related to credit unions serving immigrant communities at the National Community Development Federal Credit Union's Latino Credit Union Conference.
That National Council of La Raza in Washington, D.C., is the largest Latino rights organization in the U.S. Bowdler reported that between the years 2005-2050, immigrants and their children will account for 82% of household growth in the United States.
"We cannot take any longer the hate speech that has crept into immigration debate," Bowdler said, citing that reports have shown hate crimes against immigrants up since 2004. "Hate crime threatens the work that you do."
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Bowdler noted that the unbanked and immigrants can be targets for crime, predatory lending and financial scams.
"This community is in desperate need for new financial services. It's a great opportunity for you guys to serve them," Bowdler said. "Research throughout the country has also shown that credit unions are far ahead of banks and far more innovative when it comes to serving these communities."
Though credit unions are ahead, Bowdler said they still need to diversify the affordable products they offer and advertise them in the communities they serve. "You have to have the ying and the yang. You have to have the great product and then move it out there in the community."
With hate crime against immigrants on the rise, and what Hofheimer called a "big bottleneck in immigration policy," immigrant communities are not going to contribute to the economy.
In order to change public policy, Hofheimer said that action is more effective than lobbying.
"Policy in favor of our actions is a positive thing, but it's much more influential to serve the community without the help of public policy. We spend a lot of time lobbying, but actions can speak much louder than policy initiatives."
To better serve field of membership, Hofheimer cited three things credit unions can focus on: choice, innovation and access.
Regarding choice, Hofheimer said that credit unions can sometimes be too complex in what they offer and that it is better to keep choice simplistic for consumers.
Credit unions should partner with agencies in the community and research the community, Hofhiemer said, as convenience is top of mind will all consumers but that can mean different things for different people.
He concluded, "If we really think of ourselves as cooperatives then we need to share information and stories with those that are not serving these communities. If collectively as an industry we do a better job to serve these communities then public policy will change in our favor."
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