No Amnesty=$700B bailout
By Robert Miranda
For most of the Bush administration’s tenure, illegal immigrants were able to get assistance to buy a home.
Many undocumented families secured loans to buy a home using government agencies, such as the Wisconsin Housing Authority, which helped to finance
home loans as long as the undocumented produced identification cards issued by the Internal Revenue Service known as the Individual Taxpayer Identification
Number, or ITIN.
Once these cards were issued, many banks were able to secure home loans for undocumented people.
In the early 1990s, we were experiencing a sluggish economy and a booming undocumented population growth. Banks and other financial companies
(most in the subprime market) targeted undocumented immigrants who were able to get help from government agencies, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp (FDIC). The FDIC gave the green light to many banks to do business with underserved markets regardless of the customers’ immigration status.
After 9-11, the GOP started to target illegal immigrants and passed laws, such as the Patriot Act, designed to rid our nation of individuals who were here
illegally.
The problem with the Patriot Act and other-like draconian laws and policies is these policies never considered the economic impact on the American
people.
Hard-line policies, such as those vetoed by the governor of Arizona, where lawmakers wanted to bar illegal immigrants from English classes, child care and
other state services, and in Wisconsin, where an effort to offer in-state tuition to college-bound students from undocumented parents was stopped, and in
Washington, where action taken by Congress made it impossible for illegal immigrants to acquire a driver’s license, have engendered an exodus from the United
States of undocumented people.
In their wake, abounded homes with outstanding mortgages.
As the Bush administration and the GOP grapple with what to do with Wall Street, they should recognize that they are also responsible for creating this
economic calamity. By attacking the undocumented, whom they relied upon to help grow the economy over the past twenty years, they’ve helped cause the
worst economic calamity in U.S. history.
All across the United States, over 12 million undocumented immigrants became part of urban and rural America, and were able to fill jobs in construction,
foundries and other low-skill industries. Latinos in Wisconsin experienced a population boom from 1990 to 2000, increasing to over 200,000 people.
The undocumented flocked to places, such as Milwaukee, where banks in the area found a new growing market. This market was issued IRS identification cards,
and with these cards many undocumented people were able to go to lending institutions, such as Mitchell Bank on Milwaukee’s south side.
The bank’s chairman, James Maloney, saw the undocumented as a solution to the bank’s declining profits. Its assets had dropped to $60 million in 1999
from $95 million in the early 1990s. They were not alone; many other banks saw opportunity with the undocumented, and an economic Olympics to attract
illegal immigrants to their banks began.
The fact that undocumented immigrants didn’t have a credit history was of no concern. Banks turned to utility, rent, and other forms of receipts to determine
the creditworthiness of an undocumented person.
Before 9-11, demand for home loans increased, so banks across the nation stepped up their efforts to provide mortgages to the undocumented. No one in
the financial sector seemed to care about the fact that these loans were much more risky than those offered to everyday American citizens.
The IRS-issued tax-registration number, the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, used by undocumented people was issued to millions of
undocumented people and now that the economy is going broke, jobs for the undocumented are drying up; foreclosures are starting to pile up—Yes! The
taxpayer now must pay for these foreclosures.
Foreclosures were caused by fear-mongering right-wingers, who ignored the fact that the undocumented have become an important part of the economy.
The undocumented are scapegoats for terrorism, and are used to justify spending money on a wall being built on the boarder of Mexico and the United States,
continuing spending money on an illegal war in Iraq, and soon for bailing out Wall Street with a $700 billion corporate welfare package.
The mass exodus of illegal immigrants is going to cost this country much more — could an economic depression be just around the corner? If there is no
amnesty, there will be a collapse of our economy.
Montezuma’s revenge!
Robert Miranda, is a national award winning columnist, Latino community activist and Editor-in-Chief of the Milwaukee Spanish Journal and Executive
Director of Esperanza Unida, Inc. Email at: rmiranda@wi.rr.com
For most of the Bush administration’s tenure, illegal immigrants were able to get assistance to buy a home.
Many undocumented families secured loans to buy a home using government agencies, such as the Wisconsin Housing Authority, which helped to finance
home loans as long as the undocumented produced identification cards issued by the Internal Revenue Service known as the Individual Taxpayer Identification
Number, or ITIN.
Once these cards were issued, many banks were able to secure home loans for undocumented people.
In the early 1990s, we were experiencing a sluggish economy and a booming undocumented population growth. Banks and other financial companies
(most in the subprime market) targeted undocumented immigrants who were able to get help from government agencies, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp (FDIC). The FDIC gave the green light to many banks to do business with underserved markets regardless of the customers’ immigration status.
After 9-11, the GOP started to target illegal immigrants and passed laws, such as the Patriot Act, designed to rid our nation of individuals who were here
illegally.
The problem with the Patriot Act and other-like draconian laws and policies is these policies never considered the economic impact on the American
people.
Hard-line policies, such as those vetoed by the governor of Arizona, where lawmakers wanted to bar illegal immigrants from English classes, child care and
other state services, and in Wisconsin, where an effort to offer in-state tuition to college-bound students from undocumented parents was stopped, and in
Washington, where action taken by Congress made it impossible for illegal immigrants to acquire a driver’s license, have engendered an exodus from the United
States of undocumented people.
In their wake, abounded homes with outstanding mortgages.
As the Bush administration and the GOP grapple with what to do with Wall Street, they should recognize that they are also responsible for creating this
economic calamity. By attacking the undocumented, whom they relied upon to help grow the economy over the past twenty years, they’ve helped cause the
worst economic calamity in U.S. history.
All across the United States, over 12 million undocumented immigrants became part of urban and rural America, and were able to fill jobs in construction,
foundries and other low-skill industries. Latinos in Wisconsin experienced a population boom from 1990 to 2000, increasing to over 200,000 people.
The undocumented flocked to places, such as Milwaukee, where banks in the area found a new growing market. This market was issued IRS identification cards,
and with these cards many undocumented people were able to go to lending institutions, such as Mitchell Bank on Milwaukee’s south side.
The bank’s chairman, James Maloney, saw the undocumented as a solution to the bank’s declining profits. Its assets had dropped to $60 million in 1999
from $95 million in the early 1990s. They were not alone; many other banks saw opportunity with the undocumented, and an economic Olympics to attract
illegal immigrants to their banks began.
The fact that undocumented immigrants didn’t have a credit history was of no concern. Banks turned to utility, rent, and other forms of receipts to determine
the creditworthiness of an undocumented person.
Before 9-11, demand for home loans increased, so banks across the nation stepped up their efforts to provide mortgages to the undocumented. No one in
the financial sector seemed to care about the fact that these loans were much more risky than those offered to everyday American citizens.
The IRS-issued tax-registration number, the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN, used by undocumented people was issued to millions of
undocumented people and now that the economy is going broke, jobs for the undocumented are drying up; foreclosures are starting to pile up—Yes! The
taxpayer now must pay for these foreclosures.
Foreclosures were caused by fear-mongering right-wingers, who ignored the fact that the undocumented have become an important part of the economy.
The undocumented are scapegoats for terrorism, and are used to justify spending money on a wall being built on the boarder of Mexico and the United States,
continuing spending money on an illegal war in Iraq, and soon for bailing out Wall Street with a $700 billion corporate welfare package.
The mass exodus of illegal immigrants is going to cost this country much more — could an economic depression be just around the corner? If there is no
amnesty, there will be a collapse of our economy.
Montezuma’s revenge!
Robert Miranda, is a national award winning columnist, Latino community activist and Editor-in-Chief of the Milwaukee Spanish Journal and Executive
Director of Esperanza Unida, Inc. Email at: rmiranda@wi.rr.com