Trump Order Increases Scrutiny Of Illegal Immigrants' Banking Activity

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times,

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 19 directing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to provide banks with an advisory on financial risks posed by individuals living in the country illegally.

In his order, Trump urged banks to pay attention to credit risks posed by offering mortgage loans, car loans, credit cards, and other consumer credit products “to the inadmissible and removable alien population.”

“Many of those borrowers face the possibility of the loss of wages due to removal or their employers’ decisions to comply with immigration law,” the president stated.

“Lending to aliens without legal work authorization or who face a substantial loss-of-wage risk creates a structural ‘ability to repay’ deficiency that undermines the safety and soundness of the national banking system.”

The order directs Bessent to issue an advisory to banks on identifying red flags tied to payroll tax evasion by employers or labor brokers, as well as accounts opened in another person’s name to obscure the real beneficial owner’s identity.

Other warning signs highlighted in the order include the use of payment services that are unregistered with regulators to make “off-the-books” wage payments—meaning that employers did not report wages to authorities—labor trafficking, and the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers to obtain credit products or open bank accounts without verified lawful immigration status in the United States.

The order also requires the Treasury Department to consult with financial regulators and propose changes to the Bank Secrecy Act that would allow banks and other financial institutions to obtain customer identity information.

The proposed changes would allow banks to collect information on whether account holders have “lawful immigration status and employment authorization in the United States when such information is relevant to assessing risks associated with fraud, identity misrepresentation, sanctions evasion, or other illicit financial activity,” according to the order.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has previously urged Bessent to conduct a review on “current rules that allow illegal immigrants to obtain financial services and access to the U.S. banking system.”

In an October 2025 letter to Bessent, Cotton said major banks currently accept identification documents from other countries as primary identification without verifying the immigration status of applicants in the United States.

“Access to the American banking system is a privilege that should be reserved for those who respect our laws and sovereignty,” Cotton wrote in the letter.

“When individuals are allowed to open accounts without verifying legal status, we are permitting illegal aliens to establish financial roots and integrate economically, all while bypassing the legal channels that millions use properly.”