Finally some vindication

After all the media coverage about providing accounts to illegal immigrants (which, once again, was not a practice where I work) we finally see a little vindication and clarification on the subject. Talton is a well-respected journalist in the valley and, while the article isn't entirely without spin, provides a much more balanced and accurate account of things than was previously reported.

Strangely enough, Reuters recently reported on Bank of America offering credit card accounts to folks with no Social Security number. Note that this isn't necessarily illegal as people only have to have a taxpayer ID number, yet the article takes the liberty of editorializing on this and asserts that the majority of these people are illegal immigrants. Where this gets really hairy is that while respectable financial institutions take every effort to validate the legitimacy of the information and documentation applicants provide, they aren't the INS nor any other extension of law enforcement. The same is true of the post-secondary public school system - they are now being taxed with asking folks for for proof of citizenship even though the schools aren't trained in such measures.

The more I see stuff like this, the more I wonder if we're not moving closer to a world more like the one depicted in Children of Men. I sure hope it doesn't come to that by my faith in such matters does occasionally waiver.