God Bless America!
----Original Message Follows----
From: Luvkljm
Subject: BOA's Policy Gains and loses Customers
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:28:41 EST
I say we do a little protesting in front of a BOA. Dennis Miller also
closed all his accounts too.
Bank Of America's Policy Gains and Loses Customers
As NewsChannel 5 reported earlier, the Bank of America now allows people to
open all kinds of accounts, even if they don't have social security numbers
like undocumented immigrants. However, the fallout began soon after when
customers started withdrawing their money.
There have been reports of people across the country who said they're no
longer banking at the Bank of America because they disagree with the new
policy.
It's even hit some local cities who now want to do business somewhere else.
Since Bank of America's take on the immigration debate hit the news, talk
show hosts took on the topic.
Conservative radio talk show host Phil Valentine is at the head of this
spiraling fallout, urging listeners to cut up their Bank of America credit
cards
and close accounts.
"I'm sorry folks at Bank of America but this is war. I'm getting my
account,
get it down to $50, and I'm gonna send in the last 50 in pesos," Valentine
said on his show. "I'm just not going to patronize people who do not have
the
best interest of our country at heart."
The backlash has even trickled down to small government meetings. The City
of
Oak Hill has millions of city funding set to be transferred to Bank of
America accounts, but now some commissioners want to hold off.
"It's a security risk. It's a homeland security risk," Oak Hill Commissioner
Ray Throckmorton said.
Many governments, businesses and individuals are now considering the bank's
police when deciding where to put their money.
Oak Hill is just one tiny community now thrown into the center of the latest
facet of the immigration debate, forced to decide next month on how to vote
with their checkbook.
"I think it is unfair for a bank to reward illegal behavior or conduct,"
Throckmorton said.
Bank of America continued to defend its policy saying it's a helpful way to
allow people to establish credit. Right now, this Bank of America pilot
program is only running in 51 branches across the US.
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Fri Feb 16, 10:57 PM ET
A local radio show wants people to shred their Bank of America credit cards to protest the bank?s decision to offer credit cards to illegal immigrants.
A credit card shredding party was held in front of the KOGO studios in Serra Mesa.
Bank of America said the credit card is open to people without a Social Security number or credit history as long as they have had a checking account with the bank for three months. The bank said the program would help undocumented workers build good credit.
SHRED YOUR BANK OF AMERICA CREDIT CARD!!…We’re done talking and we’re ready for some action. News that B of A hustles illegals to give them credit cards is near the final stroke (there are so many, ouch). Bank, when questioned, basically gives America the finger and sez, “illegals are the fastest growing market in the country and we’re gonna sign them up, so just shut up.”
Shut up our butt. In fact the opposite be true, Roger set to raise heck. Roger does his show tomorrow in the parking lot of KOGO radio, 9660 Granite Ridge Drive, San Diego ( Aero Drive off the I-15, head west on Aero, left at Daley Center Drive, right onto Granite Ridge) from 3p - 6p.
We’ll invite you to shred your B of A card. We’ll have a brand new shredding machine. We’ll have some bank officials on hand to change your account to a new bank or explain how easy it is to transfer (including direct deposit..this is a snap) from B of A. Roger has gotten calls on the radio and emails from folks who have already ditched the Bank of the Illegals, including loans etc. The Bank of the Illegals will continue to give America the finger until they lose enough financial blood at the hands of LEGAL AMERICANS. Perhaps they can exist and flourish with only illegal customers. But until our government decides to act, we shall.
AND WE’LL HAVE A LOT OF OTHER STUFF AT THE SHOW TOMORROW AS WELL:
**Sign up on site to travel with Roger to D.C. April 21-26th to WAKE UP AMERICA. A Hold Their Feet To The Fire citizen lobby effort (Roger’s 12th annual). We have signed up 14 radio talk show hosts from around the country to come with us to broadcast and support several hundred citizen/lobbyists from across the plain. We’ll visit the offices of every single lawmaker in the House and Senate demanding:
SECURE BORDERS
NO BLANKET AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS
DEFEND OUR BORDER PATROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS
Sandy Carter of Sandy Carter Travel will be at the broadcast, ready to answer questions and sign you up on the spot. YOU NEED TO DO THIS!!
**Sign up on site to join Roger’s WAKE UP AMERICA Hometown Team to support our D.C. effort from home (only if you absolutely can’t come to D.C. with us). Steve Sarviel will have his lap top fired up and he’ll register you as a team member, then and there. We have work for you to do.
**Sign a petition to support our D.C. citizen/lobbyists. We’ll copy the petitions and hand them to every lawmaker in the Congress and get a batch over to the White House as well….same message:
SECURE OUR BORDERS
NO BLANKET AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS
DEFEND OUR BORDER PATROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
**Donate funds to the legal defense funds of Nacho Ramos, Jose Compean and Gilmer Hernandez. The latter is the Edwards County, Texas, Deputy Sheriff, who faces federal prison time for doing his job, capturing illegals. The former two are our well know Texas BP Agents already in prison for doing their job. We’ll have info on how to make out checks, we’ll take cash and we’ll get the money to the defense funds of all three VICTIMS OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
**We’ll have hotdogs and soda pop. Free, but if you pay a buck or something we’ll donate that loot to Ramos, Compean and Hernandez as well.
I don’t need to read you the riot act to get you upset and engaged. The friggin NFL won’t allow recruitment ads for the U.S. Border Patrol cause the league needs illegals in the seats and wants to promote “fooootballll,” to Mexico. Like Bank of the Illegals and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the tude is AMERICA IS FOR SALE. Screw the USA. Those folks who broke into our country are customers. Yea, they may also be terrorists but hey, most of them aren’t. Just looking for a place to bank, watch some “foootballll,” and join an Oceanside street gang. BURP!!
SHOW UP TOMORROW OR I’LL COME GET YOU!!
Family and friends,
The Bank of America announced today they are aggressively offering credit cards to illegal aliens in an attempt to increase their profits. Other than an active checking account in their bank, no social security number or any documentation of legal presence is required! (How can illegals open a checking account without a SS number?? Try it some day and see how far you get!) As a result, we are asking all Americans holding Bank of America credit cards to cancel them, and move your accounts to a local bank in your area. This also applies to credit cards issued by MBNA , which was recently taken over by the Bank of America. Be sure to tell them WHY you are cancelling your accounts!
Don't move your accounts to Wells Fargo for they are just as bad, if not worse. Also avoid Citi Bank unless you enjoy talking to customer service reps in India and Pakistan.
Even though the Bank of America is breaking the law, they apparently have the full blessing of the Bush administration as this fits the president's agenda of amnesty,open borders, and a North American Union.
More details of this story are in Michelle Malkin's article below.
Thanks for your help!
later.....Ed W
Bank of Illegal Aliens in America
By Michelle Malkin · February 13, 2007 09:21 AM
Higher standards...except for illegal aliens
Bank of America has introduced a new credit especially and
exclusively for law-breaking immigrants. Really. The story is on the
front page of the Wall Street Journal today. It's subscription-only.
Here are the details:
In the latest sign of the U.S. banking industry's aggressive pursuit
of the Hispanic market, Bank of America Corp. has quietly begun
offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers --
typically illegal immigrants.
In recent years, banks across the country have begun offering
checking accounts and, in some cases, mortgages to the nation's fast-
growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic.
But these immigrants generally haven't been able to get major credit
cards, making it hard for them to develop a credit history and expand
their purchasing power.
The new Bank of America program is open to people who lack both a
Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have
held a checking account with the bank for three months without an
overdraft. Most adults in the U.S. who don't have a Social Security
number are undocumented immigrants.
The Charlotte, N.C., banking giant tested the program last year at
five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51
branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of
illegal immigrants in the U.S. The bank hopes to roll out the program
nationally later this year.
The banking giant salivating over the massive illegal alien market
insists it's doing nothing wrong:
Bank of America defends the program, saying it complies with U.S.
banking and antiterrorism laws. Company executives say that the
initiative isn't about politics, but rather about meeting the needs
of an untapped group of potential customers.
"These people are coming here for quality of life, and they deserve
somebody to give them a chance to achieve that quality of life," says
Brian Tuite, the bank's director of Latin America card operations and
one of the architects of the program.
BoA is defying federal immigration laws:
1907 Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a) Offenses
Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a) defines several distinct offenses related
to aliens. Subsection 1324(a)(1)(i)-(v) prohibits alien smuggling,
domestic transportation of unauthorized aliens, concealing or
harboring unauthorized aliens, encouraging or inducing unauthorized
aliens to enter the United States, and engaging in a conspiracy or
aiding and abetting any of the preceding acts. Subsection 1324(a)(2)
prohibits bringing or attempting to bring unauthorized aliens to the
United States in any manner whatsoever, even at a designated port of
entry. Subsection 1324(a)(3).
Encouraging/Inducing -- Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv) makes it an
offense for any person who -- encourages or induces an alien to come
to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless
disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry, or residence is or
will be in violation of law.
Conspiracy/Aiding or Abetting -- Subsection 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)
expressly makes it an offense to engage in a conspiracy to commit or
aid or abet the commission of the foregoing offenses.
Penalties -- The basic statutory maximum penalty for violating 8
U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(i) and (v)(I) (alien smuggling and conspiracy) is
a fine under title 18, imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or
both. With regard to violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(ii)-(iv) and
(v)(ii), domestic transportation, harboring, encouraging/inducing, or
aiding/abetting, the basic statutory maximum term of imprisonment is
5 years, unless the offense was committed for commercial advantage or
private financial gain, in which case the maximum term of
imprisonment is 10 years. In addition, significant enhanced penalties
are provided for in violations of 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1) involving
serious bodily injury or placing life in jeopardy. Moreover, if the
violation results in the death of any person, the defendant may be
punished by death or by imprisonment for any term of years. The basic
penalty for a violation of subsection 1324(a)(2) is a fine under
title 18, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, 8 U.S.C.
§ 1324(a)(2)(A). Enhanced penalties are provided for violations
involving bringing in criminal aliens, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(i),
offenses done for commercial advantage or private financial gain, 8
U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii), and violations where the alien is not
presented to an immigration officer immediately upon arrival, 8
U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(iii). A mandatory minimum three year term of
imprisonment applies to first or second violations of § 1324(a)(2)(B)
(i) or (B)(ii). Further enhanced punishment is provided for third or
subsequent offenses.
So what is the Bush Department of Homeland Security doing? Using the
BoA outrage to argue for its amnesty plan that would reward illegal
aliens en masse! They do not get it:
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said banking
products aimed at illegal immigrants "reinforce the need for a
temporary worker program" that the Bush administration has been
promoting. That program would screen, tax and otherwise regulate
immigrant workers and, the administration contends, would squeeze out
illegal workers who now use forged or stolen documents to get jobs,
driver's licenses and occasionally credit.
Dios mio. Banking products aimed at illegal immigrants do
not "reinforce the need for a temporary worker program." They
reinforce the need to enforce the borders, strengthen interior
enforcement of immigration laws, and punish companies openly flouting
the rule of law.
Score another victory for phony baloney homeland security.
***
Fun fact: Bush's first Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services (2003-2005), Eduardo Aguirre, was President of International
Private Banking for Bank of America, where he worked for 24 years.
Flashback: The Illegal Alien Gold Card
Flashback: Banking on illegal immigration
Flashback: Banking on American stupidity
Flashback: Businessweek "Embracing Illegals - Companies are getting
hooked on the buying power of 11 million undocumented immigrants"
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006861.htm
"To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men."
...................... Abraham Lincoln
Call the President, your Senators, and Congressmen toll free:
1-877-762-8762, 1-800-833-6354, 1-866-340-9281, 1-866-808-0065
Tell them to SECURE OUR BORDERS and ENFORCE our laws. No Amnesty or Guest Worker Programs!!
Bank of America courts undocumented Hispanics
Published: Wednesday, February 14, 2007
By Miriam Jordan and Valerie Bauerlein
The Wall Street Journal
LOS ANGELES -- In the latest sign of the U.S. banking industry's aggressive pursuit of the Hispanic market, Bank of America Corp. has quietly begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers -- typically illegal immigrants.
In recent years, banks across the country have begun offering checking accounts and, in some cases, mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic. These immigrants generally haven't been able to get major credit cards, making it hard for them to develop a credit history and expand their purchasing power.
The new Bank of America program is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft. Most adults in the U.S. who don't have a Social Security number are undocumented immigrants.
The Charlotte, N.C., banking giant tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S. The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally this year.
"We are willing to grant credit to someone with little or no credit history," said Lance Weaver, Bank of America's head of international card services, whose team designed the program based in part on the bank's experience in markets like Spain, which lack conventional credit bureaus to rate a client's credit-worthiness.
The credit cards involved aren't cheap. They come with a high interest rate and an upfront fee. And the idea of catering to illegal immigrants is controversial.
Bank of America defends the program, saying it complies with U.S. banking and antiterrorism laws. Company executives say the initiative isn't about politics, but rather about meeting the needs of an untapped group of potential customers.
"These people are coming here for quality of life, and they deserve somebody to give them a chance to achieve that quality of life," said Brian Tuite, the bank's director of Latin America card operations and one of the architects of the program.
Typical of the new card's customers is Antonio Sanchez, a Mexican immigrant whose only major asset is a white, 1996 Ford Thunderbird, which he drives to the two restaurants where he works each day on opposite sides of Los Angeles. Sanchez, who says he sneaked across the border a decade ago, has been a customer of Bank of America's East Hollywood branch for nine years. He has no borrowing history and no Social Security number.
To obtain a Bank of America Visa card with a $500 line of credit, Sanchez had to put down $99. If he stays within his $500 limit and pays his balances in a timely fashion, he will receive his $99 security payment back in three to six months, and his credit limit might be increased.
"I always wanted to start building credit to buy a home, but I couldn't," said Sanchez, a father of three children who earns about $25,000 a year from his two jobs. "When a senorita at the bank told me about this card, I couldn't miss the opportunity to get it. You need credit to succeed in this country."
The variable annual percentage rate charged on Sanchez's card is 21.24 percent, higher than the average interest rate of 18.1 percent card issuers nationwide charge on unpaid balances, according to the Nilson Report, an industry newsletter based in Carpinteria, Calif.
David Robertson, publisher of the report, said a rate of 21.24 percent is "unquestionably high."
"If that's the rate you're offered, it's a pretty safe bet you're in a high-risk group," he said.
To assess an applicant, the bank employs "judgmental lending," a concept pioneered by MBNA Corp., the credit-card company that Bank of America acquired in January 2006. In essence, the bank bases its evaluation of a potential client's credit-worthiness on a subjective review by its employees, rather than on standardized financial data crunched by a computer.
Unorthodox initiatives like the new credit-card program may be crucial to Bank of America's long-term success. In the past the bank, which operates in 31 states and the District of Columbia, grew mostly by buying up other banks. Now, however, it is bumping up against a regulatory cap that bars any U.S. bank from an acquisition that would give it more than 10 percent of the nation's total bank deposits. That means Bank of America's only way to grow domestically is to sell more products to existing customers and to attract new ones.
Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank after Citigroup Inc. in terms of market capitalization, estimates that there are 28 million Hispanics in its operating area and that most of them, regardless of their immigration status, don't have a bank. It hopes the allure of a credit card will persuade hundreds of thousands more Latinos to open accounts.
"If we don't disproportionately grow in the Hispanic (market) ... we aren't going to grow" as a bank, said Liam McGee, Bank of America's consumer and small-business banking chief.
Illegal immigrants have typically relied on loan sharks and neighborhood finance shops for credit. That has begun to change. A few years ago, a handful of community banks in the U.S. began offering mortgages to illegal immigrants, as long as they could prove they had stable employment and paid U.S. taxes with an individual tax identification number, or ITIN.
In December 2005, Wells Fargo & Co. began extending mortgages to consumers with an ITIN. The bank is evaluating a pilot program in Los Angeles and Orange counties before deciding whether to expand it.
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said banking products aimed at illegal immigrants "reinforce the need for a temporary worker program" that the Bush administration has been promoting. That program would screen, tax and otherwise regulate immigrant workers and, the administration contends, would squeeze out illegal workers who now use forged or stolen documents to get jobs, driver's licenses and occasionally credit.
Anti-money-laundering regulations passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks put more pressure on banks to verify customers' identity and watch for suspicious transactions, but they don't require banks to ascertain whether account holders are in the U.S. legally. Most banks require a Social Security number or ITIN to open an account, but regulations also allow them to accept othth store credit cards. "Once you capture them, they become very loyal," says Ron Azarkman, chief executive of La Curacao, which has developed its own in-house credit-ratings system. "This is a promising market, as long as it is carefully managed," he says, adding that the average APR charged by his company is 22.9 percent.
Bank of America hasn't launched an ad campaign for the new card. For the time being, it is counting on word of mouth that starts with its employees at each banking center. Many of the Spanish-speaking account holders who come to teller Luz Quintanilla's window at Bank of America's East Hollywood branch, already have a Social Security number and regular credit card with the bank. But she suggests in Spanish that "maybe you have family or friends who don't have a Social Security number, but wish to build their credit."
In selling the card, a major challenge is to persuade immigrants who are sometimes wary of plastic that holding a credit card is an important step on the way to obtaining loans for big-ticket items, such as a car or even a home. Pictures of a check book, credit card, car and house in ascending order illustrate this concept in one pamphlet in Spanish and English titled "How to Build Your Credit, Step by Step."
Ann Carrns contributed to this article.
Source:
BOYCOTT BANK of AMERICA
boston craigslist > boston/camb/brook > rants & raves > BOYCOTT BANK of AMERICA
Reply to: pers-278129985@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-02-13, 12:57PM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, the paper said, adding these immigrants generally have not been able to get major credit cards.
The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said.
Bank of America tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Journal said.
The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year, the paper said.
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They will do this knowing that these people are sending most of their money to Mexico and other S.American countries. And, guess who will be paying off their delinquent loans?