politics
Trump Administration Directs Scrutiny of Banking for Illegal Immigrants
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said the goal is to cut off banking services and encourage self-deportation. Federal agencies have issued guidance following a May executive order. The steps build on existing credit-risk rules without mandating account closures.
Jul 18, 2:23 PM·1m read1 source
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White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said on July 18 that the Trump administration is working to block illegal immigrants from using banking services as a way to prompt self-deportation. He spoke during an interview on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton show. Miller stated that illegal immigrants hold credit cards and bank accounts and receive direct-deposit pay.
He described shutting down that access as a major tool for enforcement. President Trump signed an executive order on May 19 directing banks and federal regulators to increase scrutiny of accounts and credit applications tied to immigrants without legal status or work authorization. The order did not require banks to deny services outright.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, led by Russell Vought, issued guidance in early June stating that lenders may and in some cases must consider immigration status and work authorization when judging ability to repay loans. On July 13 three federal agencies reminded supervised institutions to apply existing safe-and-sound credit-risk practices when lending to borrowers not legally authorized to work.
Fox News reported that federal agencies have begun acting on the May executive order.
Both the CFPB and July 13 guidance note that illegal immigrants could present higher risk for loans.
