immigration banks

Banks and illegal immigration

One of the nearly-overlooked aspects of the immigration issue is the role that banks play. That's surprising since around 20 billion dollars flows from Mexican citizens in the U.S. back to Mexico each year. Some Caribbean countries (such as Haiti) get an even greater percentage of foreign income from such money flows. And, a good portion of that flow is from illegal aliens, and the money they send home was earned illegally.

While illegal immigration is presented by its enablers in the media and in advocacy groups purely as a human issue, it's actually more a matter of big money.

Plenty of banks (and the Federal Reserve) want to tap into the money that's sent from the U.S. to foreign countries, whether the money was earned illegally or not. And, plenty of banks want to tap into related markets such as opening savings and checking accounts for illegal aliens or giving them home loans. They know the money was earned illegally, but they don't care. And, they find plenty of corrupt politicians willing to help them profit from illegally-earned money in exchange for campaign contributions or other benefits.

See the entries below for specific examples of banks trying to profit from illegally-earned money in one way or another. One easy thing you can do is ask The Nation why they spent a year investigating Lou Dobbs at the same time as ignoring Wachovia, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and all the rest.

Last modified Jul 25, 2018
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New York City Municipal ID card: profits for banks, cover for criminals and terrorists - 09/19/14

New York City has passed a law to give municipal identification cards to any qualifying resident of that city, regardless of immigration status [1]. Like similar efforts in other cities, the real goals include building up a political power base for politicians and enriching major banks. In the case of the NYC card, they're specifically covering up for future criminals and terrorists. Here are some of the issues with the card:

Childlike Frank Keating of American Bankers Assn uses Reagan to promote amnesty, loose borders - 11/11/13

Former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating - now president of the American Bankers Association - offers "What would Reagan do?" (Los Angeles Times, peekURL.com/zyDNYet ).

Bill de Blasio's immigration position will enrich the wealthy, harm American poor (New York City) - 10/15/13

If you're an illegal alien, New York City mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio wants you to know that you're welcome in NYC. And, if you're a corrupt company or bank that wants to profit from illegal immigration, Bill de Blasio wants to help you make more money too.

Los Angeles ID cards for illegal aliens: follow the money and power (Alarcon) - 09/11/12

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to consider turning the L.A. Public Library card into an ID card that illegal aliens can use. No matter how the plan is spun, it all boils down to one of two things (or a combination): money and power.

Wachovia Bank admits laundering billions in illegal drug profits (+Bank of America; Wells Fargo) - 07/05/10

From this: [Wachovia Bank]... made a habit of helping move money for Mexican drug smugglers. Wells Fargo & Co., which bought Wachovia in 2008, has admitted in court that its unit failed to monitor and report suspected money laundering by narcotics traffickers... The admission came in an agreement that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Wachovia struck with federal prosecutors in March... Wachovia admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. That’s the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-...

Doug Irving /OCR, United Way help banks profit from illegally-earned money - 02/01/10

At the end of 2008, Arnold Schwarzenegger launched "Bank on California", a California state program that encouraged the "unbanked" to open bank accounts. Since the "unbanked" are largely illegal aliens and since their wages are earned illegally, California's governor is using state resources to help private companies profit from illegal activity. Now, Doug Irving of the Orange County Register offers "Poorest of poor urged to use banks" (link) about an affiliated local effort called "Bank on Santa Ana" (bankonsantaana.ca.gov). In his report, he tells his readers nothing about the immigration...

The Economist in 2004: "More Mexicans, please" (promoted home loans to illegal aliens) - 12/14/09

I haven't looked into how much of the mortgage mess is due to financial institutions giving mortgages to low-wage workers, including illegal aliens from Mexico; for that, see Steve Sailer. Some but not all of it was, making the June 10, 2004 article from The Economist called "More Mexicans, please" (no author given; economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2752598) a cautionary tale about a) giving in to corruption, and b) trusting The Economist: NATIVISTS in Texas and Arizona may still want to keep Mexicans out of America, but in the mid-west, far from the border, a growing...

America.gov promotes banks profiting from money earned illegally ("unbanked", Matt Herrick) - 05/20/09

America dot gov - run by the U.S. State Department - recently promoted Canadian-style multiculturalism. Now they'd decided to promote banks profiting from money that was earned illegally. America.gov staff writer Matt Herrick offers "Banking the Unbanked/Alternative financial services attract immigrants" [1]: Compared to native-born Americans, immigrants like Gama are not only poor, but also disproportionately "unbanked," meaning they do not have bank accounts. Some might be "under-banked," making minimal use of banks. Among immigrants, Mexicans are most likely to be unbanked, reports the Pew...

Gordon Crovitz /WSJ: millions of Americans are unemployed, so let's ramp up immigration - 04/27/09

Former Wall Street Journal publisher Gordon Crovitz offers "We Need an Immigration Stimulus/A recession is exactly when we want innovative outsiders" (link). Bracketed by various absurdities, he offers the following stats: Companies founded by immigrants include Yahoo, eBay and Google. Half of Silicon Valley start-ups were founded by immigrants, up from 25% a decade ago. Some 40% of patents in the U.S. are awarded to immigrants. A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that immigrants are 50% likelier to start businesses than natives. Someone who supports Americans (in Crovitz' words,...

Gavin Newsom runs for California governor; *highlights* SF as sanctuary city, helping corrupt banks, and more - 04/21/09

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has announced his candidacy for governor of California.

"Bank on Los Angeles": city helps corrupt banks profit from illegal activity - 03/25/09

The City of Los Angeles recently announced a new public-private partnership called "Bank on Los Angeles" (bankonla.com) that's designed to help 10,000 low-income residents who don't have bank accounts ("the unbanked") open up accounts. It's also open to illegal aliens [1], and that means that Los Angeles City will be encouraging corruption by helping major banks profit from money that was earned illegally.

Obama 3/24/09 press conference: border initiative seeks stop flow of illegal guns and money - 03/24/09

The transcript of Barack Obama's 3/24/09 press conference is here. In addition to several of the to-be-expected useless questions from the English-language media, he took one from a Univision reporter: Today your administration presented a plan to help curb the violence in Mexico and also to control any or prevent any spillover of the violence into the United States. Do you consider the situation now a national security threat? Needless to say, he didn't answer that question. He was also asked whether he'd be sending National Guard troops, and only responded that he'd increase the efforts if...

San Francisco city ID card helps illegal aliens find work, banks profit from illegally-earned money - 02/23/09

From this: San Francisco City Hall started issuing municipal photo identification cards to city residents on Jan. 15, regardless of their immigration status. "The SF ID card program is great," said Dr. Carlota Del Portillo, dean of the Mission campus. "It will be available for San Francisco residents only. If you live in Daly City, for example, you will not be able to have one." Of course, if you're you're an illegal alien who lived in Guatamala until yesterday you can get one, just as long as you prove residency in Frisco. And, if you're an illegal alien who wants to find work, San...

Schwarzenegger helps banks profit from illegal activity ("Bank on California") - 12/14/08

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has launched a program called "Bank on California" that seeks to give bank accounts to 100,000 of the "unbanked": those who currently don't have either a checking or savings account. However - right on their front page (bankoncalifornia.ca.gov) - the program states that it accepts as ID the Mexican government's Matricula Consular card, a form of identification that's basically only of use to illegal aliens. In brief, Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state of California are actively helping banks profit from money that was earned illegally.

Stephen Fuller/George Mason University: are you sure you're a professor of public policy? - 04/25/08

[The money followed in the update, and also see the 9500 Liberty page.] Stephen Fuller/Stephen S. Fuller of George Mason University - supposedly a professor of public policy - is featured on the latest video from 9500 Liberty. On the video (called "IMMIGRATION Crackdown HURTS Our Economy", link) he discusses the dire consequences of Prince William County in northern Virginia trying to do something about illegal immigration in their county. Oddly enough, for the several minutes that Fuller basically says the same thing over and over, he only discusses direct economic effects and certainly...

Candid emails from opponents Oklahoma's anti-illegal immigration law (1804, Harry Coates, Spirit Bank) - 04/11/08

Oklahoma passed an anti-illegal immigration bill (1804) last year and various forces are apparently trying to weaken it or repeal it. Late last month the Oklahoma Bankers Association released a study claiming that the bill could cost residents of the state $1.8 billion (link). One of the opponents is state Sen. Harry Coates, whose family just happens to own a roofing company.

Bill Clinton, Arnold Schwarzenegger promote corruption, try to fool people about "unbanked" program - 01/24/08

Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwarzenegger join forces to offer "Beyond Payday Loans". The two promote plans to help the "unbanked" (those without checking accounts), and in so doing completely mislead about the seemy underbelly of their proposals: the San Francisco program they mention is designed in large part to give banking services to illegal aliens. They don't even hint at that: ...[The American dream] is harder to achieve for millions of Americans because they spend too much of their hard-earned money on fees to cash their paychecks or pay off high-priced loans meant to carry them over...

Chase, Citibank, Laredo National Bank get desk inside Mexican consulate in San Antonio - 11/21/07

From this: The Consulate General of Mexico signed an agreement Monday with three U.S. banks that could make Mexican nationals more comfortable with the banking industry. Chase, Citibank and Laredo National Bank will take turns each day manning a desk in the Mexican Consulate on Navarro Street [in San Antonio]. They will answer questions for Mexican nationals about financial services and products with the hope of eventually turning them into customers at area branches. "In other areas of the U.S. — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago — we have had a presence in consulates for years," said...

San Francisco approves ID card; corruption in plain sight; Tom Ammiano? - 11/14/07

The San Francisco Supervisors have approved a city ID card for everyone, including illegal aliens (link). While this will be sold as either a wacky plan from the far-left or a common-sense solution, the more likely reason this was pushed through is hiding in plain sight: [Bill author, supervisor Tom Ammiano] said banking institutions in San Francisco have signaled their willingness to accept the municipal ID card for the purpose of setting up accounts. He noted that people without bank accounts are frequently more vulnerable to theft and robbery. Officials with the city's Bank on San...

San Francisco: ID cards for illegal aliens (Tom Ammiano, Gavin Newsom, banks) - 09/07/07

San Francisco ("Frisco") is a true humanitarian city, a city that cares. Their latest proposal has nothing to do with making some people money or obtaining race-based power! Don't bother following the money and/or power trail, it isn't there. They just care about undocumented persons: San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano is drafting legislation to create a city identification card for immigrants unable to get traditional ID cards, a move likely to anger advocates of tougher immigration enforcement. The cards would be accepted by all city agencies and organizations that receive city funding...

New Haven: John DeStefano has financial interest in illegal immigration? - 07/26/07

As previously discussed, New Haven Connecticut is passing out ID cards to their residents, including illegal aliens. The program was designed by a current city employee who used to head up a non-profit organization (Junta for Progressive Action) that's collaborating with the Mexican government. Now, it turns out that Mayor John DeStefano or others may have a financial stake in the matter. It involves DeStefano possibly going to work for a bank that was started to give loans to serve the low income "immigrant" community, and the bank was started with part of a "contribution" from another bank...

New York Times alludes to Mexican meddling via consulates (Little Rock) - 05/23/07

Randal Archibold of the New York Times offers "Debate Raging, Mexico Adds to Consulates in U.S." about Mexico's latest outpost, this one in Little Rock, Arkansas. Somewhat to my surprise, they actually include some of the downsides and question some of Mexico's motives although, of course, they don't go far enough. This is just a fly-in report, not investigative journalism: Increasingly, [Mexico's consulates] are also acting as influential free agents in a broken immigration system that Congress is trying to overhaul. As the consulate that opened last month in Little Rock illustrates, the...

Bob Barr takes Bank of America's side; did the ACLU get to him? - 03/02/07

Former Republican Georgia Congressman Bob Barr - also an advisor to the ACLU, a group indirectly linked to the Mexican government - comes out in support of Bank of America's credit card for illegal aliens in "Immigration indigestion" (link). He ends up sounding like Bill Press, and makes the same fundamental error as he did: When word surfaced recently that some banks, such as Bank of America, were allowing individuals to open accounts, apply for credit cards and obtain home mortgages even though they did not possess a Social Security number, it was not Big Government Liberals who rose up in...

Wells Fargo considers credit cards for illegal aliens - 02/27/07

Apparently, Chris Casacchia of the Business Journal of Phoenix contacted various banks asking whether - like Bank of America - they were going to give credit cards to illegal aliens. A JPMorgan Chase & Co. spokeswoman said they have no such plans. Compass Bank "were not prepared to comment" for the story. However, as could be expected, the bank that put support for illegal immigration on the map says that they're considering it. Wells Fargo vice president of regional banking communications Marge Rice says: "We are exploring the possibility of offering unsecured credit cards to Wells Fargo...

The Bank of America boycott - 02/16/07

Via this and this we learn that alipac.us has started a website called bankofamericaboycott.com. They're boycotting that bank due to their decision to give credit cards to illegal aliens.

Wells Fargo knows many of its customers are illegal aliens - 02/14/07

The not-exactly-in-depth L.A. Times article "Banking on illegal immigrants" by E. Scott Reckard, David Streitfeld and Adrian G. Uribarri discusses the backlash to Bank of America's credit card for illegal aliens. It informs us: "At face value the program seems to be problematic," said Russ Knocke, a [Department of Homeland Security] spokesman. "It seems to be lending itself to possibilities of perpetrating identity theft or creating more risk for money laundering." ...[Rep. Tom Tancredo] said he sent a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales and Department of Homeland Security...

Bank of "America": credit cards for illegal aliens - 02/12/07

Bank of America is currently offering credit cards to residents of Los Angeles County who only have ITIN numbers and who don't have either a social security number or a credit history. That strongly implies that those credit recipients are illegal aliens. Later this year the bank hopes to expand the program nationwide. For those who don't understand why this is horrifically bad, this bank is indirectly profiting from unlawful activity. And, they're explicitly going after that market. If you're one of those people who don't agree this is bad, imagine some form of illegal activity that you...

Pahrump anti-illegal immigration ordinance; bucks rotting in the banks? - 10/12/06

The city of Pahrump Nevada - former home to Art Bell - is considering a "Hazleton-style" ordinance, but with the additional twist of trying to block banks from doing business with illegal aliens.

Banks worried about being called felons just because they may have aided and abetted illegal aliens - 05/09/06

The Chicago Tribune's "Immigrant bill worries banks" from Becky Yerak informs us that officers of banks that give home loans to illegal aliens are worried about being named as felons if HR4437 passes. As discussed below [1], if a bank knows that someone is here illegally, and then gives them a home loan that allows them to stay here illegally, hasn't that bank committed a felony under current law?

Blagojevich gives illegal aliens better deal than veterans - 01/27/06

Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois is truly a piece of work. His latest attempt to give benefits to illegal aliens is opening a state-sponsored low-interest mortgage loan program to citizens of other countries who are here illegally:

"Banks aim to help immigrants send money home" - 01/27/06

What a heart-warming title to this CSM report (link). Of course, they don't go into the downsides: billions of dollars is flowing out of the country and being used to prop up corrupt foreign governments and depriving those countries of the citizens and industries they need to improve. And, that encourages those corrupt governments to send us even more of their people. And, many of those "immigrants" are in fact illegal aliens.

"New ID Cards Help Immigrants Keep Their Money Safe" - 09/30/04

The following is an alleged news report from Austin TX's KXAN: The Mexican consulate has announced a program which puts a face, literally, on thousands of Mexican immigrants. Authorities say something as simple as an identification card will save money and lives. It's an important day for immigrants. Many of them live and work in the shadows, with no formal identification card and no place to put their money.

Who is the FDIC? And, why are they working with a foreign government to subvert our laws? - 09/20/04

The FDIC - "an independent agency of the federal government" - is working with the Mexican consulate in Chicago, banks, and community groups to give home loans to "immigrants." If they're legal immigrants, and thus American citizens (or on their way), why is a foreign government involved? The article "NWI banks offer home loans to undocumented immigrants" (link) explains why: