The Trump administration is considering new action that could require banks to verify the citizenship status of their customers, including existing account holders, according to comments made during a CNN segment featuring Omar Jimenez and Matt Egan.
“Trump could soon force banks to take part in an immigration crackdown,” Jimenez said. “What I mean by that? Sources tell CNN the administration is considering requiring financial institutions to collect and verify their customers, citizens, citizenship status, something banks aren’t currently required to do. One source says the new policy could come through an executive order. CNN is Matt Egan is following this story for us. So Matt, what are you learning about how banks are responding to this possibility?”
Egan responded that the proposal appears tied to broader immigration enforcement efforts.
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“Yeah, well, Omar, this does appear to be part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown,” Egan said. “Sources tell CNN Priscilla Alvarez and I that the administration is considering new action that would require banks to check the citizenship status of their customers.”
He explained that the potential policy would not be limited to new accounts.
“Now this would be something that would actually apply, not just on a go forward basis, but also to existing customers, which is pretty stunning when you think about just how many customers the banks already have,” Egan said.
According to Egan, the action could also require financial institutions to review additional documentation.
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“Now this action could also require banks to check different category of documents than what they normally look at, including passports,” he said.
Egan emphasized that the proposal has not been formally announced.
“Now I do want to stress that nothing here has been announced or finalized. It’s not clear here whether or not this would come in the form of an executive order or some other action. We reached out to the White House, and a spokesperson said that any reporting on policy that hasn’t been officially announced is just speculation,” he said.
Some Republican lawmakers have expressed support for such a move. Egan cited a post from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton on X.
“Republican Senator Tom Cotton, he put out a post on X yesterday where he said, I strongly support President Trump taking action to prevent illegal migrants from accessing our banking system,” Egan said. “And he said he sent a letter to Treasury last fall asking for an investigation into this matter, and that he plans to introduce legislation on this issue shortly.”
When asked about industry reaction, Egan said public comment has been limited.
“Now, Omar, you asked about how the industry is reacting. Officially, they’re not really saying much, right? Representatives from major banks, from bank trade groups. They haven’t they haven’t commented on this,” Egan said.
However, he reported that concerns have been raised privately.
“However, sources do tell CNN that the industry is concerned here because they’re worried that this kind of action, it could almost compel them to be part of the administration’s immigration crackdown,” he said.
One financial industry source described potential implementation challenges.
“One financial industry source told me that verifying every bank customer’s citizenship status would be unworkable. This source said it’s a bad idea. We are very alarmed,” Egan said.
Currently, banks must comply with anti-money laundering and “know your customer” rules, but they do not track citizenship status. A change in policy would represent a shift in compliance requirements.
Egan also noted the economic footprint of undocumented immigrants.
“Even undocumented immigrants, they do play a significant role in this economy. In 2023 alone, undocumented immigrants. They paid $90 billion in federal, state and local taxes, and they had spending power of nearly $300 billion,” he said.
He concluded by referencing President Donald Trump’s broader regulatory agenda.
“And just one other point for you here. Omar the President does talk a lot about cutting red tape. It’s something he’s very proud of, something that he mentioned during the State of the Union last night, where he took credit for cutting a record number of job killing regulations. But this potential action related to banks and the immigration crackdown does show how in some cases, the President has actually added new red tape and regulation where he sees fit,” Egan said.
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