Very true. We must remember though that a lot of the kids of these illegals balk at shoveling snow in the winter, mowing lawns in the heat of summer, and washing cars all day. These kids would rather hang out with their fellow cholos, drink beer all day, and bang their girlfriends whenever they feel like it resulting in unwanted teen pregnancies that are clogging up our nation's hospitals' delivery rooms and consequently, our classrooms. The question then is this: after these hardworking, first-generation illegals retire and their kids are sent off to jail, do we then let in another wave of illegals to take their places and shovel our snow, mow our lawns, and wash our cars? Do people here ever think of the consequences of abetting and encouraging these lawbreakers to enter our country in violation of our immigration laws? This country is going down the tubes and a lot of people are still cluelessly scratching their balls.
A few points come to mind: 1) The Mexicans who come to the US illegally tend to be hard working and extremely motivated. The lazy ones stayed in Mexico and didn't bother going to all the trouble of entering the US illegally and risking getting shot by some crazy redneck Minutemen rancher who thinks he's a patriot and a hero for gunning down a guy who is crawling through the desert just for the opportunity to pick strawberries or do construction work from dawn till dusk for $10 or $20 a day. 2) Almost everyone who legally lives in the US today is descended from immigrants. Immigration to the US was pretty much wide open until 1924, when the American eugenics movement (yes, the same eugenics movement that spawned the Nazis; "racial hygeine" was quite popular in the US and non-Catholic European countries as well) prompted passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, among other laws (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924), to prevent the further debasement of America's Anglo bloodlines with continued influx of swarthy and inferior stock from the Mediterranean and eastern European regions. 3) Without illegal Mexicans receiving sub-minimum wages to pick our produce and wash our dishes, a box of strawberries would cost you $20 at the local grocery store, and a meal at an average restaurant in most places would easily run you $50 a head. 4) Bank of America is not exactly a progressive company. George Bush is not exactly a progressive president. Yet neither seems to have a particular problem with the masses of Mexicans here to perform cheap labor. This highlights a lurid divide in the Republican Party: the nationalist faction, who dislike foreigners on principle; and the business faction, which has no particular problem with them, so long as they work hard and cheap and don't complain. Currently, the latter faction has the upper hand.
No, but I've actually made dozens of loans myself and was always repaid while I've loaned some US born citizens and it's taken me sometimes 5 years to get paid. I'm not a lender, just someone who knew people who needed money. It's also my view (and I know of some cases) that there are many *legal* immigrants taking advantage of *every* program designed to help those in need yet they're just pocketing the money. Hey, there's always bad apples among the good ones.
I didn't want this topic to become a political debate, that's why I posted it here. The real question is in this particular case: Are illegal immigrants a less or equal risk for bankruptcy compared to citizens? I am sure this was the bottomline for BofA, and I have to assume they answered it yes... But this brings up another question. If this experience works out, American banks could issue CCs for Canadian or Mexican citizens, because really what is the difference??? P.S.: Since most illegal workers use fake IDs, how can the banks keep track of them or what holds them back to get a bunch of CCs??? They don't have to worry about the for 7 years you screw up your credit thing....
Pekelko, sorry, didn't mean to derail your thread into political debate. I suppose it's inevitable, to some extent, with this kind of topic. Back on track with credit risk, the piece I read said BoA is only offering cards to people who have had checking accounts with them for at least 3 months (presumably with no bounced checks.) This would imply that they have at least a stable address and some known cashflow. That, combined with the analysis that the lazy Mexicans stayed home and only the highly motivated/hardworking ones bothered to go to all the trouble of crossing illegally for work, probably is enough assurance for BoA to extend whatever small amount of credit they're giving them. I imagine their credit limit will be pretty low at first, and gradually increase as they build up a payment history and cashflow history in their checking account. A company the size of BoA can afford to default on a large percentage of $500 loans to collect the (surely astronomical, given the lack of credit history) interest they're charging on the rest. I'd love to see their internal reports and analysis on this topic... Cheers.
You still don't get it. Thieves and con-artists don't usually emmigrate to another country. No need. They usually can do that at home and are more comfortable with their own native language. The ones who DO emmigrate are usually the hard-working types who have no connections or other resources to "make it" in their own country. The legal ones will be busy their first few years learning the new system and trying not to break any law that could endanger their legal status. The illegal ones will be busy working their butts off to support themselves here, send funds to their wife & 5 kids back home and at the same time try to stay away from police/INS type of problems. Last thing these people have on their minds is how to scam the banking system. Again, there's always a few bad guys that make the news, but it wouldn't convey reality. Many of these people, even if they're going home today, want to leave a door open if they ever return. Also, I know of 1 illegal person in particular who had a baby in 1971 and did not pay her hospital bill at the time since they really could not afford it. They returned to their country a year later and eventuall made it back here in the late '70s. 30 years later, when the couple went to buy their 1st house the title co./credit bureau investigation turned up this 30 year old debt that had to be repaid. But, yeah, if someone wants to scam the system, legal or illegal, you can probably get away with $50-100K easily.
I am an illegal. My credit score is 790. Top 10% credit score in the nation. Never paid 1 bill late. Sure there are always the bad ones, but I am one dam good example there are plenty of good immigrants too.
I'm actually surprised that anyone could believe in anything other than the overwhelming likelihood that these people will represent a far better credit risk than the average couch potato-Doritos muncher. It seems intuitively obvious to me, but no, sorry, I don't have the numbers for you. Do you have any reliable source/statistics to back up this statement? Thanks.