Trump Weighs Forcing Banks to Verify Customers Citizenship

(MENAFN) The Biden administration is weighing executive action that could compel financial institutions to collect citizenship data from their customers as part of a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Among the measures under consideration is a potential executive order that would require banks to gather citizenship information across their entire customer base — and could go further by demanding additional documentation, such as a passport, to verify legal status, according to an anonymous source with knowledge of the deliberations who spoke to the Post.

People familiar with the administration’s thinking cautioned that the details of any such order or accompanying measure have yet to be locked in, the report noted.

Significant questions remain unanswered, including whether the directive would stop at collecting enhanced customer data or take the more drastic step of mandating account closures for individuals unable to furnish the required documentation.

The White House declined to comment on the potential order to the Post, which had initially been reported by The Wall Street Journal. A separate source with insight into internal administration discussions said officials at the Treasury Department were separately examining ways to restrict undocumented immigrants’ access to banking services.

White House spokesman Kush Desai pushed back against the coverage, stating: “Any reporting about potential policymaking that has not been officially announced by the White House is baseless speculation.”

Should the order be signed, it would represent another escalation in President Donald Trump’s administration aggressive immigration enforcement agenda.

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that the Internal Revenue Service improperly handed over confidential tax records belonging to thousands of individuals to immigration enforcement authorities.

Current federal “know your customer” rules already require banks to collect customers’ names, birth dates, and addresses — information typically verified through a driver’s license. How any new order would treat noncitizens who are lawfully residing in the United States remains unclear.

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