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To amend section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, to require financial institutions to verify the lawful immigration status of applicants for deposit accounts through a self-attestation form, to impose penalties on individuals for false attestations, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would require financial institutions to verify that individuals opening deposit accounts are lawfully present in the United States by having applicants attest under penalty of perjury to their immigration status. Banks would be prohibited from opening or maintaining accounts for individuals who do not provide this attestation. The bill establishes civil penalties of $10,000 to $50,000 and criminal penalties of up to 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for individuals who knowingly provide false attestations, and allows for forfeiture of assets in such accounts. Financial institutions would also be required to report suspected false attestations to the Department of Homeland Security and the Attorney General. The provisions would take effect one year after enactment, with implementing regulations due within 180 days.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Ogles, Andrew [R-TN-5] (R-TN)
2 cosponsors
- Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] (R-AZ)
- Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3] (R-LA)
Actions (2)
- Mar 5, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. · house
- Mar 5, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2026
Mr. Ogles (for himself, Mr. Crane, and Mr. Higgins of Louisiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To amend section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, to require financial institutions to verify the lawful immigration status of applicants for deposit accounts through a self-attestation form, to impose penalties on individuals for false attestations, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Alien Banking Act”.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR IMMIGRATION STATUS VERIFICATION IN CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.—Section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (2)—
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking “and” at the end;
(B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
“(D) requiring any individual who is present in the United States and seeking to open an account to attest, under penalty of perjury, to the individual’s lawful presence in the United States, including by checking a box or similar affirmation on the deposit account application form indicating whether the individual is a United States citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or otherwise lawfully present in the United States, as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury.”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(7) Prohibition on opening accounts for unlawfully present individuals.—A financial institution may not open or maintain an account for any individual who fails to provide the attestation required under paragraph (2)(D).
“(8) Penalties for individuals.—
“(A) Civil penalty.—Any individual who knowingly makes a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) is liable for a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000.
“(B) Criminal penalty.—Any individual who knowingly makes a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. Notwithstanding title 18, United States Code, the fine under this subparagraph shall not exceed $250,000.
“(C) Forfeiture of assets.—
“(i) Civil forfeiture.—In the case of an individual knowingly making a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) in connection with an account, any property contained in the account, regardless of when such property was placed in the account, and any property otherwise traceable to the account, may be seized and forfeited to the United States in accordance with the procedures governing civil forfeitures in money laundering cases pursuant to section 981(a)(1)(A) of title 18, United States Code.
“(ii) Criminal forfeiture.—
“(I) In general.—A court, in imposing sentence for an individual knowingly making a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) in connection with an account, shall order the defendant to forfeit all property contained in the account, regardless of when such property was placed in the account, and any property otherwise traceable to the account.
“(II) Procedure.—Forfeitures under this clause shall be governed by the procedures established in section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act.
“(9) Reporting requirement.—A financial institution that has reason to believe an individual has made a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) shall report such belief to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General.”.
SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, shall issue regulations to implement the amendments made by section 2 of this Act, including—
(1) model language for the attestation described in 5318(l)(2)(D) of title 31, United States Code; and
(2) guidelines for reporting suspected false attestations under section 5318(l)(9) of such title.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The provisions added by the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>
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