Thanks to reader Kyle.

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Unless and until Trump goes after the employers, under the table wage paying is not going to stop. However, it might make buying a car or house harder.

by Jim Hᴏft
May. 20, 2026

President Trump has taken another major step in his immigration enforcement agenda, this time targeting access to the American banking system.

In a new executive order issued Tuesday, the Trump administration directed the Treasury Department to increase scrutiny of financial activity tied to illegal immigration, including potential payroll tax evasion, concealed account ownership, off-the-books wage schemes, labor trafficking, and the use of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) without verified legal presence documentation.

Banks will now be pressured to strengthen customer identification requirements and think twice before handing out accounts, loans, credit cards, or any financial services to those here illegally.

In plain English: No more easy banking for illegal aliens. No more wiring billions in remittances back to foreign countries while American families struggle. No more using our financial system to launder cartel money or fund the very invasion destroying our communities.

President Trump has officially moved toward de-banking illegal aliens with a new Executive Order released today. https://t.co/733A7vDGFi

— Immigration Accountability Project Action (@iaproject) May 20, 2026

According to the new executive:

Safeguarding Against Fraud and Abuse. (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a formal Advisory to financial institutions regarding the risks associated with the exploitation of the United States financial system by non-work authorized populations and their employers. This Advisory shall describe specific red flags and typologies associated with the following categories of suspicious activity:

(i) evidentiary patterns of payroll tax evasion by employers or labor brokers, including the systematic failure to withhold or remit Federal employment taxes for non-work authorized individuals;

(ii) the utilization of certain foreign-identity documents, nominee accounts, shell companies, or complex “funnel” structures designed to obfuscate the identity of the ultimate beneficial owners or conceal the true nature of payroll disbursements;

(iii) the strategic use of unregistered money services businesses, third-party payment processors, or peer-to-peer platforms to facilitate “off-the-books” wage payments intended to bypass Bank Secrecy Act reporting thresholds or tax obligations;

(iv) patterns of repetitive, sub-threshold cash withdrawals or deposits that correlate with payroll cycles conducted outside of regulated payroll processing systems, also known as “structuring and micro-structuring”;

(v) financial activity indicative of labor trafficking or forced labor (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1589), where proceeds are commingled with legitimate business revenue or transferred to foreign jurisdictions; and

(vi) the use of an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) to obtain credit products or open depository accounts where the applicant lacks verified lawful immigration status. Although an ITIN facilitates tax compliance, its use in lieu of a Social Security number or valid work-authorized visa may be identified as a risk factor requiring enhanced due diligence to ensure the account is not being utilized to facilitate the unlawful employment of unauthorized aliens.

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