By Roberto Bustamante
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a warning urging financial institutions to remain vigilant against the risks presented by the illegal employment of undocumented immigrants.
“President Trump has done more than anyone in history to secure our nation’s borders. Part of that effort includes securing our financial system,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“This administration will not allow undocumented immigrants to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hard-working American taxpayers,” he added.
By hiring, hiding and exploiting people without authorization to work, Employers may gain an unfair advantage over legitimate American companiesreduce wages, facilitate identity theft of Americans and divert tax revenues destined for government benefit programs, according to a press release.
Schemes to pay undocumented workers often depend on access to the U.S. financial system, including U.S. banks.
On the recent time, Treasury’s @FinCENnews issued an Advisory urging financial institutions to be vigilant in opposition to risks presented by the illegal employment of illegal aliens. That is step one in enforcing @POTUS’ historic Executive Hiss entitled Restoring Integrity to The United States’s?
— Treasury Division (@USTreasury) June 5, 2026
Illegally earned wages can be used to finance transnational criminal organizations—several of which have been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations—and their global criminal enterprises, including drug trafficking, human trafficking and other illicit activities in the United Statess.
This Notice supports the Executive Order 14406“Restoring the Integrity of the American Financial System,” and the Treasury Department’s ongoing effort to prevent exploitation of the American financial system by undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The Notice highlights identity theft and payroll fraud as key elements in schemes that use complicit employers in the agriculture, construction, domestic service, hospitality and other sectors to conceal violations of U.S. immigration laws.
Undocumented Immigrants Can Illegally Obtain Social Security Numbers and other personally identifiable information of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to obtain illegal employment and wages, health care benefits provided by employers and the government in the United States, and access to financial services.
Complicit employers may also use payroll tax fraud schemes to conceal the hiring of low-wage undocumented immigrant workers, as well as to evade taxes and workers’ compensation benefits.
In 2025, financial institutions reported more than $2.5 billion in suspicious activity related to these payroll tax fraud schemes.
Keep reading:
– They went out to work and ended up detained: the raid that left forty-eight immigrants in ICE custody.
– Trump puts banks under pressure to review citizenship in immigration accounts and credits.
