[caballero]

He said that he did not want banks to make money off of his money.

I see nothing wrong with that. It is HIS money and no one can compel him to make it available to bankers to loan out.

[kathy s.]

That's not clarifying, that's putting your own little spin on what I already said. The point is, the Fed is enabling illegal immigrant fraud and theft by taking taxes linked to deceased folks. Ans, some are just fake, made up and never have belonged to anyone.

I did not justify anything, merely stated the facts.

You can keep your silly little old news links. And you can also continue to try and demonize folks who actually come here for a better life and work hard. There are good AND bad in the mix, I would like to keep the good.

Take your broad, incorrect, stereotyping crappy attitude elsewhere toots!

Aww yes, and there goes civilized debate. It's obvious you could care less to consider the fact that many illegals could care less about becoming Americans and prefer to take advantage of the system. We live in Central Texas and my husband works in a profession where employers have decided to employ unskilled illegal labor at an 8th of the pay in order to make more money. Doesn't matter if the paint starts peeling after 3 months
And yes, please let's don't let verifiable links get in the way of your biased opinion. Carry on.
ETA- Please provide sources to verify your "facts."

[kathy s.]

Let me add some information you might not be aware of. The US Immigration system does not allow you to sponsor yourself for a green card or work visa. Someone has to sponsor you. (Canada, on the other hand, allows you to apply on your own behalf). So the idea that they could take the money they gave to Coyotes to do this legally doesn't quite work.

Regarding remittances: legal immigrants also send lots of money back home. This is not something only illegal immigrants do.

Regarding citizenship: It took years and years for me to get a Green Card -have you any idea how difficult that is? I'm yet to do the citizenship test because it costs $500.00. You know what I could do with $500.00?


Paula

Yes, I do understand how hard it is to get a Green card. If obtaining American citizenship was easy, it would be worth nothing.

[paulaedwina]

Yes, I do understand how hard it is to get a Green card. If obtaining American citizenship was easy, it would be worth nothing.

That couldn't be further from the truth. The difficulty has nothing to do with worth, and everything to do with bureaucracy and funny policy. There is no rationale behind not being able to apply for a green card on your own behalf. Canada, for example, allows you to apply on your own behalf. There is a pre-screening process you go through free of charge and essentially if you don't get more than a certain score the likelihood of getting a green card is slim. You get points for being of a certain age demographic, having a job offer, having relatives, being able to speak the languages, having a certain level of education, etc. Essentially they want to know what you're bringing to the table. The US could learn something about reasonable, logical, immigration from the Canadians.

Paula

[kathy s.]

That couldn't be further from the truth. The difficulty has nothing to do with worth, and everything to do with bureaucracy and funny policy. There is no rationale behind not being able to apply for a green card on your own behalf. Canada, for example, allows you to apply on your own behalf. There is a pre-screening process you go through free of charge and essentially if you don't get more than a certain score the likelihood of getting a green card is slim. You get points for being of a certain age demographic, having a job offer, having relatives, being able to speak the languages, having a certain level of education, etc. Essentially they want to know what you're bringing to the table. The US could learn something about reasonable, logical, immigration from the Canadians.

Paula

Then why are so many coming over illegally? Mexico's immigration policy is much tougher than here in the U.S.

I am not too familiar with Canada's immigration policy so please tell me about how many unskilled immigrants are allowed to obtain citizenship in your country. What social services are available for illegal immigrants that enter your country? And for how long are those services in effect? Thanks for your input.

[M.K.Smith]

I work for a bank and one time I had the hardest time and still didn't reach a good solution trying to assist one of our customers. She was a US citizen, working in I think Australia and she didn't have a US checking account and was trying to get a payment to us. Her paycheck came through in the form of some sort of pre-paid type card that wasn't liked to a checking account. She said that she didn't have a bank. I believe that her daughter lived in the states and she gave her access to draw cash from the ATM which cost a fee and then I think her daughter got a money order to make the payments... it was costing her like $15 dollars a payment for the fees! I remember trying to wrap my head around how this would work! The lady said that it was quite common in the country she lived in to not have a checking account and in her opinion checking accounts and even paper money would become obsolete.

There are also some states that use pre-paid cards for things like unemployment and disability payments.

[FalseImpression]

Then why are so many coming over illegally? Mexico's immigration policy is much tougher than here in the U.S.

I am not too familiar with Canada's immigration policy so please tell me about how many unskilled immigrants are allowed to obtain citizenship in your country. What social services are available for illegal immigrants that enter your country? And for how long are those services in effect? Thanks for your input.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra.../apply-who.asp

I don't think unskilled immigrants have much of a chance here either unless they are part of family reunification programs (but the rules keep changing). Also highly skilled immigrants (ie doctors, vets, etc.) will not get their degrees recognized easily, unless they come from another Commonwealth country (but not Asian countries). Many doctors end up driving a cab... too many dreams sold by websites!

[kathy s.]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra.../apply-who.asp

I don't think unskilled immigrants have much of a chance here either unless they are part of family reunification programs (but the rules keep changing). Also highly skilled immigrants (ie doctors, vets, etc.) will not get their degrees recognized easily, unless they come from another Commonwealth country (but not Asian countries). Many doctors end up driving a cab... too many dreams sold by websites!

Thank you for the information.

[Guin]

AAAUUUGGGGHHHHH! It is "COULD NOT CARE LESS", NOT "COULD CARE LESS."

*brain explodes from grammar peeve*

[paulaedwina]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra.../apply-who.asp

I don't think unskilled immigrants have much of a chance here either unless they are part of family reunification programs (but the rules keep changing). Also highly skilled immigrants (ie doctors, vets, etc.) will not get their degrees recognized easily, unless they come from another Commonwealth country (but not Asian countries). Many doctors end up driving a cab... too many dreams sold by websites!

Indeed, you don't get points towards your permanent residence for being unskilled. You'd get more points if you were unskilled, but spoke and read French and English than you would if you were unskilled and spoke or read neither. Not sure if it would take you over the hump though.

Paula

[up-at-5]

Just a little note on service fees charged by banks: banks are a business, and yes, they need to make a profit(huge profit, billions made by my employer last year). I'd be more inclined to bank at a profitable business, and not worry about it going belly up. Anywhere you spend money, someone is "making money off of your money", and there are many ways to reduce or eliminate service fees, you simply need to bank smart. That said, I can only base my opinion on Canadian banking, not US banking, BTW, I made $800.00 cash from my credit card last year, didn't cost me a cent.

[OneGrayPony]

We have bank accounts, but I don't like it conceptually. I believe the more abstract that you get from the goods and services themselves, the more opportunity there is for bubbles, crashes etc. That's really oversimplifying things, but in essence, I think a lot of those banking products are the reason for inflation vs wage.

Unfortunately, you're strong armed into participating in the system regardless of what you believe, and that's getting worse. Now to rent an apartment they want credit scores, and remember that not using credit (buying things in cash) nets you a very similar score to using credit poorly.

I'm pretty sure I don't wear a tinfoil hat, yet I try to minimize my contact with banks.

[twotrudoc]

Aww yes, and there goes civilized debate. It's obvious you could care less to consider the fact that many illegals could care less about becoming Americans and prefer to take advantage of the system. We live in Central Texas and my husband works in a profession where employers have decided to employ unskilled illegal labor at an 8th of the pay in order to make more money. Doesn't matter if the paint starts peeling after 3 months
And yes, please let's don't let verifiable links get in the way of your biased opinion. Carry on.
ETA- Please provide sources to verify your "facts."

LOL! Oh so it boils down to hubby getting beat out for a job by a Mexican?

Your link is old news. And this thread is not a discussion on immigration so I won't be cluttering it up

And, I have plenty of immigration discussions in person (sometimes online) with people who have valid, thoughtful, educated, and experienced insight. Some het up gal all in a snit who finds links to support her personal one time experience doesn't impress me, especially seeing as hubby seems to be the culprit. Also, businesses who sell shoddy products don't stay in business long . I'm doubting the paint peeling.

[clanter]

He thought the government (his is very anti-big brother) was out to get him and his money. .... But he paid for his new 2012 Toyota in cash.

All cash tranations exceeding $10,000 are supposed to be reported...to big brother, I mean the government

[paulaedwina]

I could see how people would be wary of the government, but then I live in Rural PA.

Paula

[clanter]

"Another 6.6% say they can't open an account because they lack required identification .

taken care of.... if anillegal immigrant can get an ID to open an account there are ways:

Los Angeles officials are considering a plan to turn the library card into a form of identification that the city's large illegal immigrant population could use to open bank accounts and access an array of city services.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep...-card-20120911

[clanter]

I could see how people would be wary of the government, but then I live in Rural PA.

Paula

Business accounts (at least at our bank) depositing in the excess of $5,000 in cash per deposit have to explain the source

[up-at-5]

All cash tranations exceeding $10,000 are supposed to be reported...to big brother, I mean the government

It's not so much big brother, it's that business's need to protect themselves from money launderers. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to be tied into accepting drug, proceeds of crime money, at my business, thank you very much.

[clanter]

Th

Of course there are other costs to being unbanked. No loans from the bank so you're dealing with payday loans if you need one.

Paula

another option of raising cash is to steal stuff and pawn it using the fake ID you bought on the street corner ...or just sell it on Craig's List; no ID required

[clanter]

It's not so much big brother, it's that business's need to protect themselves from money launderers. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't want to be tied into accepting drug, proceeds of crime money, at my business, thank you very much.

usually around here is from the underground economy...which it appears to grow each year as taxation increases


The drug bucks are being shipped offshore...but there is one easy way to correct that ...have a call on all $100 bills... you have five days to exchange the old bills for the new other wise they are worthless.