Have Oklahoma banks admitted to aiding and abetting illegal immigration?

Judy Gibbs Robinson of The Oklahoman offers a mostly standard article on banks giving home loans to illegal aliens: "Illegal immigrants use their taxpayer IDs to apply for mortgages".

I'm going to let someone else weigh in on this, but it looks to me like it's possible that two sources might have admitted to giving home loans to known illegal aliens. Would that be a crime? Would it be possible to find a non-corrupt, pro-American prosecutor to pursue that?

The sidebar contains this:

Qualifying for a loan using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers is not easy, said Platinum Direct Funding of Milwaukee President Bob Ross. Those who qualify typically have been in the United States 10 to 20 years.

Applicants must have filed taxes for two years and must have bank accounts, adequate income and a credit history -- although the latter can be a year's worth of utility bills.

"They have to be perfect -- 12 months and no late," said Alma Hancock, a loan officer with Oklahoma City's Gateway Mortgage who is processing her first ITIN loan application.

Those who qualify face higher interest rates: The 9.25 percent Hector and Yolanda received is about 3 points above the rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan. Lenders said the risk justifies the rates.

"They know that perhaps these people could be deported," Hancock said.

So, they know these are illegal aliens.

And, this:

The process reached Oklahoma City in November, when Jesse Hernandez returned from an out-of-state meeting of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.

"I'd always heard (undocumented) people could buy houses, but I couldn't figure out how," said Hernandez, a south Oklahoma City real estate agent. Within a week of the meeting, willing lenders were calling him, Hernandez said. He has sold five homes with taxpayer number loans. The one for Yolanda and Hector will be his sixth.

"The way I see it, everybody has the right to have a house," said Hernandez, a U.S. citizen born in Mexico.

If you live in Oklahoma, could you please contact your representatives and encourage them to look into whether these companies are committing crimes?

Immigration · Tue, 03/21/2006 - 12:11 · · Importance: 1