WASHINGTON – A coalition of 52 economic justice, civil rights, labor, faith, and other groups has sent a letter to leaders across the financial services industry—but not credit unions—urging lenders, debt collectors, and credit bureaus to provide economic relief to Minnesotans the organizations said have been “financially devastated by the overly aggressive surge of militarized activity” in that state by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“The ICE presence in Minnesota has had a devastating impact on the financial lives of people in that state, creating the type of economic hardships we usually see after a natural disaster,” Chi Chi Wu, director of consumer reporting and data advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center, said in a statement. “People can’t work at businesses that are shuttered, and customers aren’t shopping in neighborhoods that are being overrun by federal forces. It’s imperative that financial services companies grant affected communities relief until they can recover from this ICE-created disaster.”
What’s Being Requested
The letter asks trade groups representing lenders from all sectors, as well as debt collection and credit reporting companies, to:
- Establish well-publicized programs to provide impacted Minnesotans with forbearances, payment pauses, and other hardship relief for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and other debt obligations
- Pause negative credit reporting when hardship relief is in effect, per well-established standards for natural and declared disasters
- Create a centralized hardship contact so individuals affected by disasters can have one point of contact for seeking assistance from all of their creditors.
Examples Cited
Citing a Minnesota Public Radio report, the organizations said examples of financial distress include immigrants and others who have lost income and face eviction when family members are detained by ICE or when they cannot go to work for fear of being detained. Economic turmoil has also affected small businesses that have had to shut down or have lost customers who are avoiding areas affected by ICE invasions, the groups said, citing a New York Times report.
“The Trump Administration’s actions are causing chaos, fear, and destabilizing communities in Minnesota and nationwide,” Nikitra Bailey, EVP with the National Fair Housing Alliance, said in a statement. “It is imperative for the financial services industry to proactively support families by protecting their credit profiles from being negatively impacted so that they are not shut out of future housing, credit, and employment opportunities because of ICE actions that are out of their control.”
