President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will allow banks to identify red flags to “restore integrity to America’s financial system.”
The executive order, signed on May 19, states that within 60 days the Secretary of the Treasury will issue a formal advisory to financial institutions regarding the risks associated with the “exploitation of the United States financial system by non-work authorized populations and their employers.”
While Trump earlier floated the idea for banks to collect citizenship data, the May 19 executive order fell short of doing that, reported Reuters.
Instead, financial institutions will look for red flags — to include payroll tax evasion, concealment of true account ownership, off-the-books wage payments, labor trafficking and the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers to open accounts or obtain credit without verified legal presence in the U.S.
According to Reuters, banks considered that checking the immigration status and citizenship of all current clients would be very burdensome and nearly impossible. Trade groups explained that such an order could lead to debanking of millions of customers and reduce financial access to Americans, Reuters reported.
Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com, @NatassiaPaloma on x; natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma Thompson on Facebook.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Will Trump’s banking order check immigration status? What to know
Reporting by Natassia Paloma, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
