New Haven Independent

Officials from Sovereign Bank Friday morning announced they would accept the Elm City Residency Card — along with a passport — from those opening bank accounts. The soon-to-open First City bank, which is funding the city ID program, has already announced it, too, will accept the cards to open accounts.

A group of Mexican immigrants (pictured) applauded the announcement in City Hall Friday as they waited in line for the new ID card, which is available to all residents regardless of immigration status.

Then, at a late Friday press conference, as City Hall remained filled with ID-seekers, Mayor John DeStefano announced the the first-floor office processing the cards will stay open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays for the indefinite future. The number of applications taken by the office passed 1,150 since it opened Tuesday.

“It’s not going away in a month,” DeStefano said. “We don’t have to jam City Hall.”

He said the city would reassign some staff and buy additional equipment from reallocated money already budgeted for the ID program in order to handle the huge demand. The city’s also looking for other sources of funding for the program, DeStefano said. He called it “irresponsible” for the city to offer a service and then expect people to continue waiting eight hours to get it.

The Sovereign announcement earlier Friday was largely symbolic. The bank already allows immigrants to open bank accounts by presenting a foreign passport, said area manager Jeff Pangaro.

“We have many clients who have opened bank accounts” with foreign passports before, said Pangaro (pictured). Sovereign has a branch downtown at 123 Church St., and one in Fair Haven at Ferry Street and Grand Avenue.

The First City Fund Corp, a $25 million fund formed as a benefit to the community when the New Haven Savings Bank got converted into NewAlliance Bank, has agreed to let patrons open a new bank account using the Elm City ID when it opens a community bank in 2008.

Mayor DeStefano said Sovereign Bank’s announcement would encourage more immigrants to open bank accounts, bringing financial literacy to Fair Haven, where many immigrants carry large amounts of cash, making them easy targets for robbery. He has invited Sovereign to leave pamphlets about its services in the Office of New Haven Residents.

“This is good for us—this one of the reasons we are here,” said Raul Camacho (pictured above at left), who showed up at 6:30 a.m. to wait in line for an ID. He hopes to open a bank account.

At 9:15 a.m., the line already snaked from City Hall to Elm Street, forcing the city to stop accepting more applicants and turn the rest away, said city spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga. The day was a repeat of Thursday, when immigrants waited eight hours in line.

Over 1,000 people had submitted applications for an ID by the time offices closed at 11 p.m. Thursday, Mayorga said. A total 150 cards had been given out by Friday at noon.

Mayorga said people still fear they won’t get an ID if they don’t come quickly, but she sought to reassure them: “The ID is here to stay.”