By Ray Birch
WASHINGTON—Credit unions that serve large Hispanic populations are concerned over President Trump’s talk about mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and, like many, playing it day by day as they try to understand what the final policy might be.
Sources report that many Hispanic families are worried about their future in the United States, and credit unions—which often step up to serve the unbanked—are concerned for these members, as they are over how some of their services could be affected if Trump makes good on his statements that there will be mass deportations.
One low-income-designated credit union that asked not to be identified told CUToday.info there is a great deal of unrest among its Hispanic members and that the credit union is uncertain how this will affect its future.
Pablo DeFilippi, VP of membership and business development at the Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, New York, agreed that those issues exist among many CUs that serve Latinos—the largest, fastest-growing, youngest and one of the most financially untapped U.S. markets. Pew Research Center’s most recent estimates set the number of unauthorized immigrants in the nation at 11.3 million, or about 3.5% of the U.S. population. Mexicans account for about half of the unauthorized population, according to Pew.
“There is real fear among the low-income, undocumented Hispanic community,” DeFilippi said. “My wife is a teacher and she works with Hispanic kids and some of them have parents who are undocumented. Their parents are talking about what might happen—a five-year-old told my wife that her parents are crying at night saying they don’t know what to do.”
No Certainty
But despite the concerns, DeFilippi emphasized that what lies ahead for undocumented Hispanics in the U.S. is by no means a certainty.
“This is all speculation now because there is no public policy we can react to now. All we know is what has been said prior to the election—the rhetoric,” said DeFilippi in early January. “I think we have to wait and see what this new administration is going to do regarding Hispanics, if anything.”
Donald Trump
But Trump on Jan. 27 made good on his promise to ban people from seven Muslim-majority countries, issuing an executive order, later blocked in part by federal judges, that prohibits citizens from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya from entering the United States for at least 90 days. The federal judges’ decision is being appealed by the Justice Department.
Trump, too, has waffled on his stance regarding illegal immigrants, last year calling first for mass deportation before softening his stance and saying only criminals within this group would leave. During the CNN/Telemundo debate on Feb. 25, 2016, Trump stated: "We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally . . . They will go out. They will come back—some will come back, the best, through a process. They have to come back legally. They have to come back through a process, and it may not be a very quick process, but I think that's very fair, and very fine. They're going to get in line with other people."
DeFilippi hopes the value Latinos bring to the U.S. economy won’t be overlooked by the Trump administration.
“Remember that one of the biggest issues Trump is backing is making sure businesses can function and grow,” said DeFilippi. “Many businesses rely on the Hispanic labor force to function. Look at Washington State–if it were to enforce any type of mass deportation policy the devastation to businesses there would be huge. I don’t think that is something Trump wants to see happen.”
Hispanic Businesses Growing Quickly
Hispanic market expert Coopera, too, points out that Hispanic-owned small businesses are growing at a rate 15 times that of all U.S. firms.
DeFilippi thinks Trump will have to be very smart about how he handles the situation.
“He has talked about the wall, cutting down on illegal immigration, but he has also promised to make this country stronger economically,” said DeFilippi. “Both of these things are related. Mass deportation of illegal immigrants will affect the economy. This is a balancing act, to address both promises. I am not sure how Trump can do that. My personal hope is that despite the rhetoric of the election, Trump will try to make inroads with the Hispanic community. He has said some things that are hurtful. And if he wants to restore some of this community’s trust, he will have to do something about that.”