Sponsor
Keith Self
Representative · R-TX
Representative · R-TX
The bill creates clearer federal rules and safe harbors for banks—improving compliance and reducing some legal risks—while substantially increasing the risk of account denial, criminal penalties, privacy exposure, and financial hardship for non‑lawfully present immigrants and those who rely on informal or intermediary arrangements.
Banks and credit unions will have clearer federal rules and a safe harbor for verifying lawful presence, reducing legal uncertainty and litigation risk for compliant financial institutions.
Immigrants with lawful status or accepted DHS/I-9 documents (and certain recently lapsed or pending-asylum applicants) keep access to bank services when institutions timely verify those documents.
Account holders with frozen or restricted accounts are permitted limited access to funds for basic living expenses and taxes, reducing immediate hardship for those affected.
Non‑citizens without lawful status risk severe criminal penalties (fines up to $1,000,000 and up to 1 year imprisonment) for opening or maintaining bank accounts, greatly increasing criminalization risk.
People not lawfully present risk new account refusals, freezes, or closures that remove access to banking services (including direct deposit), and can push affected individuals toward cash-based or informal financial services.
Account closures or freezes could interrupt benefit payments, paychecks, tax refunds, or other transfers, creating immediate financial hardship during appeals or documentation windows.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires banks/credit unions to verify lawful presence for account holders, authorizes account restrictions and civil penalties for institutions, and creates criminal penalties for non‑lawfully present account holders.
Official title: To amend title 31, United States Code, to require certain financial institutions to verify the citizenship and legal status of individuals, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 14, 2026 by Keith Self · Last progress May 14, 2026
Requires banks and insured credit unions to verify that people opening or holding accounts are U.S. citizens or otherwise lawfully present, using electronic DHS checks or specified documents, and to refuse, freeze, or close accounts when verification fails; creates notice, appeal, and limited-distribution procedures and authorizes civil penalties for covered institutions that fail to follow notice/transfer duties. Creates criminal penalties (fines and up to one year imprisonment) for non‑citizens who open or maintain accounts while not lawfully present, with narrow exceptions for recent expirations of authorized stays and pending asylum applicants.