News and Announcements

[Video] These immigrants can go to college, but blocked from student loans

Feb 2, 2017 / Media Coverage

Mitzie Perez is one of the 750,000 DREAMers who are allowed to legally go to college, but their status as temporary residents leaves them with few ways to pay for tuition. They're not eligible for federal grants or loans. And it's widely known among DREAMers that banks are turning them down for private loans, too. But for the first time, a bank is being challenged in court over this practice. Perez sued Wells Fargo in January for denying her a student loan. "I feel like I'm still kind of being criminalized. I just want to go to school," said Perez, who came to the U.S. from Guatemala at the...

MALDEF demanda a Wells Fargo por supuestamente negar préstamos a “soñadores”

Jan 31, 2017 / Media Coverage

El Fondo México Americano de Defensa Legal y Educación (MALDEF) demandó este lunes a la entidad financiera Wells Fargo por supuestamente negar prestamos a solicitantes calificados indocumentados. La querella presentada en una corte federal de San Francisco, alega que el banco violó las leyes que prohíben la discriminación en la prestación de servicios basada en el estatus migratorio de una persona. “ Creemos que hay muchos inmigrantes afectados, especialmente aquellos favorecidos por DACA que ya tienen un número de Seguro Social y un permiso de trabajo válido ”, detalló Víctor Viramontes,...

Acusan a Wells Fargo de discriminación a beneficiarios de DACA por negarles créditos estudiantiles

Jan 31, 2017 / Media Coverage

Mitzie Pérez, de 25 años, solicitó en la web de Wells Fargo un crédito para pagar la última parte de sus estudios de Género en la Universidad de California, Riverside. Introdujo sus datos, detalló sus estudios y respondió a la pregunta de si era ciudadana o residente permanente. El email de respuesta decía: "Basado en la información que usted proveyó, no tenemos una opción de crédito estudiantil que encaje con sus necesidades. Eso podría ser por la escuela que seleccionó, su campo de estudios y/o su estatus de ciudadanía". Préstamo denegado. Esta inmigrante, protegida por DACA y con permiso...

Lawsuit Claims Wells Fargo Denied Student Loans to ‘Dreamer’ Immigrants

Jan 31, 2017 / Media Coverage

Wells Fargo is under new pressure this week after a federal lawsuit was filed Monday accusing the bank of denying loans for immigrants who live, work and study in the U.S. legally. The Associated Press reports that the suit, filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in Los Angeles, claims that Wells Fargo denied student loans to young immigrants enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, created by former President Barack Obama. The plaintiffs seek a court order deeming the policy discriminatory, and requiring Wells Fargo to grant...

Legal Immigrants Sue Wells Fargo for College Loans

Jan 31, 2017 / Media Coverage

With U.S. discrimination against immigrants making world news Monday, noncitizen college students filed a federal class action against Wells Fargo bank, accusing it of refusing them student loans though they are legally in the United States. Mitzie Perez is one of roughly 665,000 residents of the United States who has been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. The program protects qualified applicants from deportation if they were brought here as children and have clean records. They may apply for and be granted work permits good for two years, which can be renewed. “Wells...

Wells Fargo sued by DACA student for alleged loan discrimination

Jan 31, 2017 / Media Coverage

A college student and a Latino civil rights group sued Wells Fargo & Co. in federal court in San Francisco for allegedly denying student loans to young immigrants who have deportation deferments. The lawsuit claims the bank "outright refuses to extend loans to individuals who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents." It charges that the alleged policy violates federal civil rights law, California civil rights law and California's unfair business practices law. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Mitzie Perez, a junior at the University of California, Riverside, and the California...

Mitzie Perez, a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Wells Fargo...

Jan 31, 2017 / Media Coverage

Mitzie Perez , a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Wells Fargo , poses for a photo in Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Perez applied for a student loan from Wells Fargo online to help cover the costs of her education at the University of California, Riverside. She had a Social Security number, license and passport, but was not able to proceed with the loan application after she disclosed she was not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. The suit comes amid concern among immigrant groups that President Donald Trump will cancel Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as part of a...

Lawsuit accuses Wells Fargo of denying student loans to young immigrants

Jan 30, 2017 / Media Coverage

A lawsuit filed Monday accuses banking giant Wells Fargo of illegally denying student loans to young immigrants who are protected from deportation and allowed to work and study in the U.S. under a program created by former President Obama. * * * The young immigrants are in the country illegally but have Social Security numbers and documents that meet bank requirements for identification, but Wells Fargo refuses to give them loans based on their citizenship status, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California by the Los Angeles-based...

UCR student sues Wells Fargo, saying they denied her a loan because she's a DACA immigrant

Jan 30, 2017 / Media Coverage

A UC Riverside student sued Wells Fargo in federal court Monday, saying the bank illegally denied loans to young immigrants who have temporary legal status under an Obama-era program. UCR student Mitzie Perez sought a student loan through Wells Fargo’s website and was denied because she acknowledged that she’s not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, according to the suit filed by the Los Angeles-based Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Perez, the suit’s lead plaintiff, is part of former President Barack Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly...

Wells Fargo Hit With Bias Suit Over DACA Immigrant Loans

Jan 30, 2017 / Media Coverage

Wells Fargo NA refuses to grant loans to those currently protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, in violation of anti-discrimination laws, according to federal putative class action filed Monday by a University of California, Riverside, student. The suit filed Monday in California federal court by plaintiff Mitzie Perez, a third-year undergraduate student from Guatemala, and the California League of United Latin American Citizens states that Perez has authorization to work in the U.S. under the Obama administration program for individuals brought...

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