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

By Alina Selyukh,

Tirzah Christopher

Published May 2, 2023 at 7:24 PM EDT

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This illustration picture shows debit and credit cards arranged on a desk on April 6, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia.

OLIVIER DOULIERY

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.

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Alina Selyukh

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.

See stories by Alina Selyukh

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.