Trump Administration Asks Banks to Take Action Against Undocumented Individuals
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
The financial crimes division of the Treasury Department wants banks to help identify payroll schemes linked to undocumented individuals as part of the Trump administration's latest measure to tighten immigration control. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN, issued a notice on Friday asking banks to be vigilant against identity theft, tax fraud, and money laundering schemes related to the hiring of unauthorized workers. This comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in May requiring banks to scrutinize the citizenship of their clients more closely. The order instructs banking regulators and government agencies to look for signs that undocumented individuals are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards. However, the order is less aggressive than banks had anticipated, as they expected the White House to mandate the collection of citizenship information from clients. Still, without encouraging widespread exclusion of large segments of the population, the order aims to deter individuals who are in the U.S. illegally from interacting with the financial system. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated in a release that the Trump administration 'will not allow illegal outsiders to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hardworking American taxpayers.' 'Schemes to pay illegal workers often rely on access to the U.S. financial system, including U.S. banks,' Bessent added. Since banks have never collected information on the citizenship or immigration status of their clients, there are no reliable public figures on how much risk these clients pose to the financial system. The banking industry had been intensely lobbying for months to prevent the White House from issuing an executive order that would have made the collection of clients' citizenship status mandatory, arguing that it would be costly and require enormous amounts of paperwork. Given that the order only provided guidance to banks rather than a mandate, it seems the banks managed to convince the White House. The notice urges financial institutions to be alert for 'red flags' that an individual is in the U.S. illegally.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
