By Dylan Tokar and Natalie Andrews

The Trump administration is weighing a possible executive order or other action that would require banks to collect citizenship information from customers, a new front in the administration's crackdown on immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, according to people familiar with the matter.

The action could ultimately task banks with asking for an unprecedented new category of documents, such as a passport, from both new and pre-existing customers who want to maintain a bank account in the U.S., the people said.

Discussions about the potential executive order have alarmed banks in recent days, some of the people said.

Banks in the U.S. are required to collect certain information under "know your customers" rules in order to police for money laundering and crime. That often includes taking passports and social-security numbers. But those rules don't include gathering citizenship status specifically and banks don't routinely share that information with the government. There is no prohibition on banks opening accounts for noncitizens in the U.S.

The Trump administration has pushed to lower the number of immigrants in the country illegally, and increased enforcement. One White House official said the potential executive order was being discussed inside the Treasury Department and hasn't been approved. The administration generally maintains that no ideas are settled until announced by the president.

"Any reporting about potential policymaking that has not been officially announced by the White House is baseless speculation," said White House spokesman Kush Desai.

One avenue being considered is having the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which enforces the U.S.'s anti-money-laundering and counter terrorism financing laws, collect the information, the people said. Those laws require banks to flag large cash transactions or other transactions that appear suspicious to FinCEN.

The Trump administration has already taken steps to use those laws to target a welfare fraud scandal in Minnesota involving dozens of Minnesotans of Somali descent that gained national attention. The fraud scandal led Trump to send enhanced Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers into Minnesota, sparking weeks of unrest after two citizens were shot by officers.

In January, FinCEN issued an order requiring banks and money transmitters in two Minnesota counties to file information about overseas transactions greater than $3,000, far lower than the normal $10,000 threshold for flagging cash transactions. Banks already think the $10,000 limit should be raised and have struggled to comply with the Minnesota order, according to multiple people familiar with their efforts.

Write to Dylan Tokar at dylan.tokar@wsj.com and Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 24, 2026 13:52 ET (18:52 GMT)

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