You need to be 18 or older and a legal U.S. resident to open a checking account at U.S. Bank. You’ll also need:
A Social Security Number
A driver’s license or state/military ID
It's totally false that you need an SSN to open a US bank account. An SSN is only issued to someone who is working, and there are plenty of non-working people residing legally in the US who are entitled to (and who in practice can) open bank accounts (e.g. foreign students). Also, a passport is fine as ID.
Unfortunately I must disagree with your comment as someone who has US accounts but isn't in (and didn't visit) the US to arrange them.