PHOENIX - In this city, where the housing market has taken a serious downturn, one credit union says there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that Hispanics are suffering.
Laura Edgar, director of community services at the $1.9-billion Arizona Federal Credit Union, said that while the CU does not have statistical data to support the trouble some Hispanics are experiencing, she knows what’s going on.
“We are hearing that Latino families are having a lot of challenges because so many work in the housing industry,” Edgar said. “Because that’s taken such a hit, more so in Phoenix than other places, homebuilders just don’t have work. I talked to a Latino member recently and her husband works for a cement company. Cement companies are hired by builders and he doesn’t have any work.”
To help Hispanics and all members struggling with payments, Arizona Federal is doing a lot of workout loans, more than $10 million this year through April, Edgar told Credit Union Journal.
The bigger issue facing Latinos, however, is the emphasis on enforcement of immigration laws, Edgar explained.
“We’re really seeing this now,” she said. “Our government in Arizona, and I think in a lot of other states, has passed a law that says a company has to prove the citizenship of its workers though a national database. So workers have to share their social security numbers and prove they are here legally. People are getting scared and leaving in droves, going to states friendlier to Hispanics where this program is not in effect.”
Edgar said there are other actions, such as making English the official state language and police asking for people’s identification when they are in public parks, that are making Hispanics uncomfortable in Arizona.
“This is a human issue and I don’t think we are looking at it as a human issue anymore,” Edgar stressed. “I used to live in Latin America and I have seen what people go through to find a job that pays a wage that will support their family. It’s about surviving–having to go somewhere to make enough money to raise your family. We would all do it if we were in that situation.”
Edgar said even CU members are weighing in, demanding that the credit union eliminate Spanish advertising on lobby digital signage systems and remove Spanish instructions on ATMs. “I had members call me and say they’ll pull their accounts if we don’t stop some of our educational classes we conduct in Spanish.”(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
