The Trump administration is considering executive action that could require banks to report more information on the citizenship of their customers, the latest move by the White House to crack down on illegal immigration, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The steps under consideration include a potential executive order requiring banks to collect information from all customers — both new and existing — and could require new forms of documentation, such as a passport, to verify citizenship, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Bank executives fear the potential new documentation requirements would create new impediments to obtaining financial services in the United States, though people familiar with the administration’s thinking said the details of any forthcoming order or similar action have yet to be decided.
It’s not clear whether the order would require banks to simply collect more information about their customers or go further by closing the accounts of individuals who don’t have the added documentation, such as a passport. Approximately half the U.S. population doesn’t have a passport.
The White House declined to comment on the possibility of an executive order on immigration, which was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal. A separate person familiar with the administration’s deliberations said officials within the Treasury Department were also weighing steps to crack down on undocumented immigrants’ access to bank accounts.
“Any reporting about potential policymaking that has not been officially announced by the White House is baseless speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
The possible executive order would be the latest development in the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown. While the Department of Homeland Security has been the primary agency carrying out the president’s mass deportation agenda, the administration has sought other ways to collect information on immigrants.
The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the Internal Revenue Service improperly shared confidential tax information of thousands of individuals with immigration enforcement officials. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started a nationwide program in December to track 1.5 million undocumented immigrants through paid contractors by using remote technologies and on-the-ground surveillance. (The lead contractor, however, said in January the contract is not being executed.)
The Justice Department last year also began using a little-known law to criminally charge undocumented immigrants who failed to register their presence in the U.S.
Under existing “know your customer” rules, banks are required to collect the name, birthday and address of their customers — information that is typically on a driver’s license.
But the steps under consideration go beyond such requirements and could require new and existing customers to prove their citizenship status. New customers may be barred from opening accounts without the added information. It’s not clear how the order would treat accounts belonging to noncitizens who are in the country legally.
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