Scott Bessent

July 17, 2026 · Immigration / Banking access / White House policy · Directly related record

Stephen Miller says Trump ordered banks to stop serving undocumented immigrants

OVERSTATED — THE ORDER DOES NOT CATEGORICALLY BAN BANK ACCOUNTS

78% evidence gapWELL SUPPORTED

NOT SUPPORTED

Why it appears on this profile: The executive order assigns implementation work to the Treasury Department, and Treasury/FinCEN issued the June advisory that Miller cited as the next stage of the policy.

What is being said

During a July 17 interview on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said Trump had signed an executive order “saying that we are not going to allow illegal aliens to use banking services in this country.” He added that shutting down access to credit cards, bank accounts and direct deposit would be “a massive engine for deportation.”

What the record shows

Executive Order 14406, signed May 19, directs Treasury and federal financial regulators to flag suspicious activity tied to unlawful employment, consider stronger customer-due-diligence rules, allow additional immigration-status information when relevant to fraud or other illicit-finance risks, and consider credit risks tied to loss of lawful work authorization. It does not order banks to close every account held by an undocumented person or categorically bar such people from ordinary deposit accounts. The CFPB’s current consumer guidance also states that a Social Security number is not required to obtain a bank or credit-union account, while existing credit rules permit creditors to consider immigration status in evaluating repayment risk. Treasury’s June 5 FinCEN advisory likewise focuses on suspicious activity and unlawful-employment schemes rather than a universal account ban.

Assessment context: Miller accurately described an administration effort to use financial regulation as part of immigration enforcement, but he overstated what the signed executive order itself says. The order creates a risk-based regulatory and enforcement framework; it does not enact the categorical nationwide banking-services prohibition his wording suggests.

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