Minutemen plan protests at 2 Holladay banks

The Utah Minuteman Pro- ject is gearing up for a protest this Friday of two Holladay bank branches that accept the new Utah driving privilege card and the Mexican matricula consular card.

The Minutemen allege that by accepting the cards as identification, Zions and Wells Fargo banks are breaking federal law by encouraging illegal immigration.

The two banks, however, say the law allows them to accept the two forms of identification as a means of opening an account.

The illegal immigration debate also will be before lawmakers on Wednesday in the form of a law that allows illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition — if they attend a Utah high school for at least three years and graduate from high school here.

Utah Assistant Attorney General Bill Evans said in a 2002 letter that Utah's law complies with federal law because it is not limited to undocumented students and is therefore not a special privilege.

Tony Yapias, former director of the state Office of Hispanic Affairs, said the law allows a handful of students to earn a college degree, but it doesn't mean they get financial aid.

"Basically, what they are doing is paying up front," Yapias said. "The rest of the population depends on student loans, grants or some other type of assistance."

But Alex Segura, Minuteman organizer and board member of Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, said Utah violates federal immigration law and opens itself up to a lawsuit similar to one in Kansas, where a tuition law much like Utah's is being challenged.

The banks accepting the matricula consular card also are "annexing the proper authority of Congress to deal with immigration," Segura said.

Wells Fargo spokesman Mark Chapman said every customer is required to present two valid forms of identification to open an account. Customers are not questioned about their immigration status, he said.

"We maintain the highest level security. We are the only (Moody's) AAA-rated bank in the country," Chapman said. "We are going to maintain everything in accordance to the law. We're not going to do something that would potentially harm our company or our customers, or that credit rating."

But Segura has presented the banks with his argument — prepared by the Washington-based Friends of Immigration Law Enforcement — that by accepting matricula consular cards, they violate federal law, raise constitutional concerns and open themselves to potential litigation by allowing illegal immigrants to open bank accounts.