Bank on it becoming more difficult if Pahrump’s anti-immigrant act passes

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006 | 7:30 a.m.

Members of Nevada's banking community are worried about a proposed ordinance in Pahrump that would make it illegal for them to do business with undocumented immigrants.

"How do I do business in Pahrump with an ordinance like this?" said Bill Martin, president of Nevada State Bank, which has two branches in the fast-growing town an hour's drive west of Las Vegas.

The proposed ordinance, called the "English Language and Patriot Reaffirmation Ordinance," also would make English the town's official language and prohibit flying a foreign flag by itself.

Town Board member Michael Miraglia drafted the ordinance, making Pahrump the first Nevada municipality to attempt legislating on a host of immigration-related issues, a trend seen in other cities and towns across the nation in recent months. Miraglia said he based parts of his proposal on Iowa legislation that he had located on the Internet, as well as the U.S. Code.

The trend of local attempts to deal with an issue like immigration that traditionally has been governed by federal law has banking officials thinking about whether they need to broaden their efforts to monitor legislation affecting their industry, said Bill Uffelman, president of the Nevada Bankers Association.

"The irony is that we used to lobby in state capitols - but we have no lobbyist in Pahrump," he said.

The proposed ordinance was scheduled to be read into the record Tuesday night for the first time, two weeks after its first reading was postponed. Public comment and a vote could come as early as Nov. 7.

The measure includes a prohibition on offering housing or loaning or giving money to undocumented immigrants and accepting any foreign identification. That provision would affect the town's banks, because most major financial institutions since 2002 have accepted a card issued by the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas as identification for opening an account.

The card, nearly 106,000 of which have been issued by the consulate in the last four-plus years, is not an immigration document and confirms only the identity and current residence of its bearer.

The ordinance, Uffelman said, "obviously has implication for banks, because illegals have bank accounts."

"It's one thing to say you can't employ an illegal - it's another to say you can't bank one," he added.

Kirk V. Clausen, regional president of Wells Fargo Nevada - and whose bank was among the first to accept the consular ID cards to open accounts - said not accepting the cards "would be a huge concern."

Clausen said he would look to the bankers association for guidance and intends to let the group know that "there's a conflict here, we need to resolve it."

At a Chicago meeting of 35 of his counterparts, Uffelman said some noted that they had seen similar ordinances in recent months.

"It's already difficult enough for us to open accounts with required ID," said John Guedry, chairman of the association. "The more difficult it becomes, the more of a concern it is."

Martin questioned how a bank would enforce the ordinance.

"If somebody pays a landscaper with a check, and it's a good check, and the landscaper comes in to cash the check, are we breaking the law if we cash the check?" he said.

"If they (customers) look Hispanic, do I ID them? Can I profile? I don't think so."

Martin also has talked with counterparts from elsewhere in the country, and what he has heard reinforces his concerns.

"This has been done around the country," he said. "They've actually seen businesses pick up and leave. Some of the towns ... have suffered because of these ordinances."