This story apparently all starts with the ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number), invented by the IRS back in 1996. The ITIN was designed so that foreign investors and immigrants (both legal and illegal) could pay taxes. Okay, at this point I'm a little torn that the IRS, a federal institution, would do something that could potentially identify illegal immigrants. Of course, I also know that the IRS, a federal institution, just wants money to come in, and if it means taking some money from illegal immigrants' pockets in the unfortunate duration before they can be arrested and deported, I guess I can't see much harm in that.
The problem started a few years later when banks began accepting those taxpayer numbers for loan applications rather than a social security number. This opened the door for illegal immigrants to apply for loans and buy houses. You can make the argument that banks "only accept applications from those with steady jobs and a proven track record of paying bills on time" - but I'll just argue right back that hiring illegals and renting to them are crimes and these employers and landlords should be punished. Not only are they helping illegal immigrants remain in our country, but they're apparently also responsible for having the loan applications of these criminals approved.
I think that if we can punish landlords for renting to illegal immigrants, we should certainly be able to punish banks for issuing the mortgage loans that similarly allow illegal immigrants to continue breaking the law by being in our country. "It's a little nonsensical for banks to be making loans to people to buy houses they have no legal right to live in. Banks should not be in the business of subverting federal immigration laws," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
So what other arguments will banks make to justify loaning our legal-citizen monies to criminals?
Illegal immigrants are less likely to make delinquent payments.
Recent figures show ITIN mortgages have a .75 percent delinquency rate -- payments 60 to 90 days late -- according to the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. By comparison, 1 percent of payments on prime mortgages are more than 90 days late, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Sub-prime mortgages do much worse, with a 9.3 percent delinquency rate.
No offense, but it's hard to trust a study of this nature making this kind of argument if the research is being presented by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. Am I saying they're lying? Of course not. I'm just saying that it raises my eyebrow a little.
I'm glad to read that at least ONE politician is seeing the problem with this system and is doing something about it. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) introduced a bill earlier this year that would require banks to use Social Security numbers to issue mortgages for a lender's primary home, but it has not gone up for a vote yet. This is certainly legislation I can get behind.
The article takes another turn for the worse in my mind due to yet another example of a reporter with knowledge of an illegal immigrant that results only in a catchy element of a story rather than an arrest and deportation.
Rodrigo -- a resident of Chicago's Southwest Side who declined to use his last name because he fears being deported -- doubts he would take the plunge now. A dozen years after he sneaked across the border from Mexico with little more than a change of clothes and $20, Rodrigo used an ITIN mortgage in 2005 to buy a two-story home. He relished the thrill of signing his closing papers and receiving the keys.
That right there is enough evidence of the crime to warrant an arrest in MY book. So why is Rodrigo probably still illegally living in his ill-gotten house instead of being sent back to Mexico with little more than a change of clothes and $20 as a big fat "Return to Sender"? I honestly don't know. But the reporter had the capability to make that happen, and failed. For now, he proudly shows off his home, which sits on a quiet, tree-lined street. In his daughters' room, painted orange and scattered with stuffed toys, the girls jump on their beds. That means that this reporter has BEEN to the location and could easily lead federal agents to this place and take Rodrigo and send him back to Mexico!
Why isn't this happening???
We all have the power to help enforce our immigration laws. We can all call the hotlines and file the reports with the ICE. We have the power, and it's time we started using it.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS ILLEGAL.
(The rest of the article)
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