A federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order benefiting two El Paso money service providers in a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department’s financial crimes unit.
U.S. District Judge Leon Schydlower issued his ruling Tuesday, June 24, nearly two weeks after hearing arguments in the lawsuit against the Treasury Department’s Geographic Targeting Order.
Schydlower called the order “arbitrary and capricious,” and pointed out that the plaintiffs, the Valuta Corporation and Payan Fuel Center, “will suffer immediate and irreparable harm absent emergency injunctive relief, including the threat of business closure, reputational injury, and loss of customers and goodwill.”
Schydlower of El Paso hears cases in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
The Treasury Department’s Geographic Targeting Order was issued in April and had required money service companies that provide services like check cashing, currency exchange, money transfers, and money orders to collect client personal information — including Social Security or green card numbers and a home address — of anyone who carries out a transaction of over $200. The previous limit was $10,000.
Customers rely on money service companies to cash checks, purchase money orders and send money to loved one outside of the U.S.
The order affected 30 zip codes in El Paso, Hidalgo, Maverick, Webb and Cameron counties in Texas. It also involved businesses in San Diego and Imperial counties in California.
The Trump administration’s order places working-class clients under financial surveillance and creates a burden for money service providers, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued.
The plaintiffs stated the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network order created overwhelming paperwork and the loss of clients.
“I am just so thankful for the relief,” Ashley Light, the owner the Valuta Corporation in El Paso, said. “I do really wish that it could have been extended to the rest of the small businesses that are affected by this because we cannot be the ones that are putting so much time and effort into this.”
The lawsuit was the third filed against the Trump administration’s order. The order was temporarily blocked by federal courts in California and in San Antonio, Texas.
“Three out of three judges have considered that this order is likely unlawful,” Andrew Ward, the lead lawyer with the Institute for Justice, said. “We are glad the court recognized that. We’re looking forward to moving towards a final judgment getting rid of this order once and for all.”
Ward estimates a final order could be made sometime in July.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for the El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@gannett.com;@palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or@palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Federal judge halts financial surveillance order for two El Paso money service providers
Reporting by Jeff Abbott, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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