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For some immigrants, America's debt culture is a complicated journey

This illustration picture shows debit and credit cards arranged on a desk on April 6, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia.
OLIVIER DOULIERY
/
AFP via Getty Images
This illustration picture shows debit and credit cards arranged on a desk on April 6, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia.

Each swipe of a credit card is a small loan. But what if you were taught to never be in debt? For immigrants, America's reliance on credit scores often means a jarring and oddly complicated journey.

Copyright 2023 NPR

Alina Selyukh is a business correspondent at NPR, where she follows the path of the retail and tech industries, tracking how America's biggest companies are influencing the way we spend our time, money, and energy.
Tirzah Christopher
Tirzah Christopher is the 2023 Roy W. Howard fellow at NPR. An international investigative reporter, she graduated in December 2022 with a master's degree in investigative journalism from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

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Federal funding is gone.

Congress has eliminated all funding for public media.

That means $2.1 million per year that Connecticut Public relied on to deliver you news, information, and entertainment programs you enjoyed is gone.

The future of public media is in your hands.

All donations are appreciated, but we ask in this moment you consider starting a monthly gift as a Sustainer to help replace what’s been lost.