Trump signs executive order to stop banks from extending credit to illegal aliens, cites security

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday telling banks they cannot extend credit and other financial services to illegal aliens, citing national security concerns. 

The order, titled – "Restoring Integrity to America's Financial System" – also calls for an end to the transfer of what Trump calls "low-dollar cross-border funds" because they have been used to "facilitate or commit terrorist financing, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking and other illegal activity."

"My administration will not tolerate national security and public safety risks caused by illicit cross-border financial activity, nor will it permit risks to our financial system posed by the extension of credit or financial services to the inadmissible and removable alien population," the order reads.

The order refers to a "recent analysis" of Chinese money laundering networks that identified how foreign passport holders have used U.S.-based accounts to facilitate the laundering of over $312 billion for criminal organizations including human trafficking.

However, the order also states banks and other financial institutions should be "attentive" to the credit risks posed by the extension of mortgage and auto loans, credit cards, and other consumer credit to the people who entered the U.S. illegal and can be deported.