Banks to flag potential undocumented workers under new guidelines
AP News • • business
Key Points:
- The Treasury Department has issued new guidance encouraging banks to share information more rapidly about suspected customers who may lack legal immigration status, as part of President Trump's immigration crackdown.
- These measures, stemming from a May executive order, aim to identify undocumented workers in the banking system under the guise of combating fraud and crime, without explicitly mandating banks to collect citizenship information.
- Banks can now share customer information in real time and flag indicators linked to immigration status, such as the use of individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs), which are commonly used by undocumented immigrants.
- While the administration insists banks are not being asked to act as immigration officers, immigration advocates warn that these policies could push undocumented immigrants out of the formal financial system, increasing the number of unbanked individuals.
- The White House has also taken other steps to discourage undocumented immigrants from using the financial system, including reclassifying certain tax credits as federal public benefits, potentially barring some immigrant taxpayers from receiving them.