SAN FRANCISCO ““ Outten & Golden has joined MALDEF in expanding a class-action lawsuit challenging a national bank’s policy of denying loans to DACA recipients and other immigrants because of their citizenship or immigration status, according to documents filed in federal court last week.
The lawsuit alleges that Discover Bank limited the access of non-U.S. citizens such as DACA recipients to student, personal and home mortgage and equity loans in violation of federal and state civil rights laws, including 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, which prohibit discrimination based on alienage and immigration status.
Policies that deny equal access to credit to Dreamers, who have lived in the U.S. since they were children and are ready, willing and able to advance their education, to buy homes and to start businesses, are incredibly destructive, “ said Ossai Miazad, Outten & Golden partner.
It is not only bad business practice, but unlawful under federal statute, for Discover Bank to discriminate against DACA recipients in its consumer banking operations, “ said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. We look forward to resolving this case so that DACA recipients nationwide can receive fair treatment from Discover Bank. “
View complaint here: