ONLY FOR PROFIT: "SELLING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THE AMERICAN DREAM"

So reads the headline of the S.F. Chronicle’s exclusive report today on how illegal aliens are working the system to not only secure good jobs, but also taking advantage of lax policies, lack of law enforcement, and complicit banking institutions.

Cue the violins and commence the media whitewashing:

Ramiro and Marisol looked on proudly as their 3-year-old son, Alexis, took out his toolbox and pretended to fix a closet in their new San Jose home. He was imitating the flurry of work his parents had put into the one-bedroom condominium over the past two weekends, installing new linoleum and carpets from Home Depot, painting and repairing.

With a shy giggle, Marisol, 27, pointed out where she plans to put the sofa and the TV in the tiny living room while Ramiro, 32, talked about being able to grill carne asada on the tree-shaded balcony.

They joked about how rarely they see each other. Ramiro works six days a week in a sheet-metal factory and attends night school to get his high school diploma. Marisol goes to business classes in the mornings and works afternoons as an office assistant while Alexis attends preschool.

It was a typical new-homeowner scene with one exception: Ramiro and Marisol, who asked that their last name not be used, are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. They’ve been in the country for four years. Marisol entered on a tourist visa. Ramiro hid in a car.

In other words, and according to U.S. law, they are criminals.

And their son, well, he’s an “anchor baby.”

Soon, if not already, little Alejandro will claim another seat in our public schools, taking advantage of a “free” education at taxpayers’ expense. (Oh, pardonme, they pay taxes, too. Of course.)

Their immigration status did not prevent them from buying a home. It is legal for undocumented people to purchase property in the United States.

That won’t fly in Mexico. In fact, only natural-born citizens can hold permanent title to any land. That way they don’t sell their country away to foreigners. Interesting concept.

The problem has been borrowing the money to pay for it. Ramiro and Marisol have stable jobs, but many undocumented people have spotty or nonexistent credit histories. Often, they’ve worked off the books.

No kidding. But still we’re supposed to believe they pay taxes? Right. Just like the employers are paying avoiding payroll taxes. That’s why it’s “off the books.”

Another issue used to be an absolute deal breaker when undocumented people applied for home loans: Until recently, people had to have a Social Security number to qualify for a mortgage.

Now, a handful of banks, including some major institutions, have begun offering home-mortgage loans to people who don’t have Social Security accounts. Instead, borrowers can use individual taxpayer identification numbers, or ITINs, which are used to file income tax returns. These lending programs also allow borrowers to use unconventional ways to demonstrate their creditworthiness.

The Internal Revenue Service issues taxpayer IDs to both resident and nonresident aliens so they can pay taxes. A significant number of the 8.6 million holders of individual taxpayer IDs are illegal immigrants, according to the Government Accounting Office.

So, that implies that of the estimated 12+ million illegal aliens hiding “in the shadows” of America, there’s millions that don’t pay taxes. Confirmed.

“For those families who have the American dream, but don’t have access to documentation, the (the taxpayer ID mortgage) is a way for them to be able to buy a home, lay down roots and build wealth for their family for the future,” said Janis Bowdler, housing policy analyst at the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil-rights organization in Washington, D.C.

SPIN ALERT: “Dont have access to documentation?” Pobresito, try this. Leave the country and come in the front door legally, and we’ll give you all the documentation you need. Then, and only then, have you qualified to pursue the American dream.

Opponents of illegal immigration deplore mortgages for undocumented people. Some say the banks making taxpayer ID loans are guilty of aiding and abetting criminals.

Yes, that’s because, um, they are! And this article confirms it. It’s obvious to any reasonable person concerned about enforcing our immigration laws. Evidently, banks seeking profitablity in “untapped markets,” regardless of our laws, don’t see it the same way. Profit motive prevails.

U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, a Republican from Roseville (Placer County), has introduced a bill that would ban issuing residential mortgages to illegal immigrants.

“The government should not be in the business of creating incentives to encourage illegal behavior. Nor should companies be permitted to reward those individuals in clear violation of our laws,” Doolittle said in a statement when he introduced the bill in October.

The bill, which also would require expedited deportation of people caught entering the United States illegally, is pending in the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Claims.

We trust our legislators, those elected to preside over the public interest, will vote accordingly. (Note to file)

“People traditionally talk about the undocumented Latino population as furtive people in the shadows who are very marginalized,” said the study’s author, Rob Paral, a research fellow with the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C. “What’s really changed is that a lot of people who are undocumented have fairly decent incomes. They have spending patterns and social behaviors which include an interest in buying a home and an ability to do it.”

Someone talks about illegal aliens as “people in the shadows?” Really? Who? But they’re not? And they’re making good income? (Doing the work that legal Americans won’t?)

Great news. Thanks for the clarification.

Using Census data on income and age, he estimated that 216,000 currently undocumented households could buy homes — admittedly ones at modest prices. About a quarter of those potential home buyers are in California. “This is a large, untapped population from a financial point of view,” Paral said. “If it were not restrained, it could be pouring a lot more money into society.”

Interesting logic. Think we heard someone say the same thing about marijuana crops and legalizing drugs.

Banks have gotten that message loud and clear. U.S. banks now routinely accept both taxpayer ID numbers and a Mexican ID called matricula consular to open new accounts. Many reach out to the Latino community with Spanish marketing materials and bilingual bank tellers.

The latest twist is the taxpayer ID mortgage. Pioneered by small community banks, mainly in the Midwest, the loans slowly have begun to spread. As of September 2004, one credit union and 18 banks were offering such mortgages, according to a report by independent researcher Mari Gallagher. In California, Wells Fargo and Citibank both offer taxpayer ID mortgage loans, albeit in small programs.
. . .

Marisol and Ramiro got their mortgage through the Citibank/ACORN Housing program, which offers interest rates a full percentage point below the published rate and $3,000 toward closing costs or down payment. In addition, their Realtor, Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano of Protelo Group Realty in San Jose, gave them a rebate of $2,500 to help pay their closing costs. At less than $260,000, their small condo was the lowest-cost listing in Santa Clara County.

Sounds like a great service. Guess that’s what corporations mean about multiculturalism and understanding the needs of their “community.” Some might simply call it racism: doing business by catering to specific ethnicities.

“In the Latino community, we don’t like to have debt,” said Frances Martinez Myers, chairwoman of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. “We transact in cash, so there’s no credit history.”

Finally, a true word is spoken.

Marisol and Ramirez, for example, “used very nonconventional credit,” Gallardo-Serrano said. ACORN Housing verified that the couple had paid their bills on time for the past two years to PG&E, San Jose Water, their landlord and a health club. In addition, they showed two years of tax returns and employment history.

Looks like they’re well out of the shadows and even spending time working out at the gym. Good for them. Arnold approves of that. Now if only we could get all the homeless in America the level of customer service, we might end poverty afterall.

Lez Trujillo, field director with ACORN Housing Corp. in Chicago, said the program with Citibank, which is available in about seven states, has made 804 mortgages worth $153 million since early 2005. Of those, 387 were in California, primarily Northern California. An additional 1,300 borrowers are now in the pipeline, either in contract or shopping for a house.

Affirmative-action in action.

Wells Fargo has offered taxpayer ID mortgages since December in a pilot program in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The bank declined to discuss the program, instead sending a short statement saying it will continue to evaluate it.

The biggest barrier to such loans is that they cannot easily be sold on the secondary mortgage market. Most banks sell the mortgages they originate to bring in more money to make more loans. Instead, banks must keep taxpayer-ID mortgages in their portfolios, tying up capital.

Sounds like a credit risk. If nothing else, tying up a bank’s capital can’t be a good practice. But do shareholders really care? Has anyone asked them?

[Independent researcher Mari] Gallagher, who specializes in research on undocumented Mexicans and the mortgage market, said that despite the shifting political winds, she thinks taxpayer ID mortgages will grow because the market pressure of so many immigrants who want to buy homes will be so strong.

“This is the match that could light the next fire in the mortgage industry,” she said.

That kind of talk ignites wrath among anti-immigration partisans.

“It’s simply wrong for foreign lawbreakers to be enabled to plant roots in this country by way of obtaining a mortgage,” Roy Beck, executive director of NumbersUSA, a group that wants to curtail immigration growth, wrote in support of the Doolittle bill that would bar mortgages for undocumented aliens.

It’s hard to believe we are having these kind of conversations without widespread ridicule. Guess that’s what happens when money is involved.

We’re talking about criminal activity. Illegal aliens, entering the country by breaking our immigration laws and ignoring our national sovereignty. If we start referring to criminals as customers, why stop at the border? There’s many more illegal markets to pursue. Does anyone see the folly?

Ramiro and Marisol don’t see themselves as lawbreakers. They hope to become citizens. And they hope that their condo will appreciate in value so they can trade up.

“After I finish school, I want to have another baby, a girl,” Marisol said. “Then in three years or maybe two, we can buy a house.”

Until our national leaders — finally — listen to the majority will and get really serious about immigration reform and law enforcement, there will be millions more who want to be livin’ la vida loca like Ramiro and Marisol.

In the meantime, some banks and other greedy corporations will continue selling-out the American dream to anyone who can pay their fees.