FinCEN Cash Rule Hits Immigrant Communities Hard

A federal rule requiring border-area money service businesses to report cash transactions over $1,000 has gutted small businesses across the US-Mexico border — and left thousands of immigrants unable to pay rent, cover bills, or wire money to family. The policy, issued by the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), was originally set at a $200 threshold when it took effect in April 2025. It was later raised to $1,000 in September 2025, but business owners say the damage was already done.

What the rule actually requires

Under the FinCEN order — formally called a geographic targeting order — any business providing financial services in covered zip codes must collect customers' names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other government-issued ID for every cash transaction above the threshold. That data goes into a federal database shared with the IRS and law enforcement agencies. The rule first covered 30 zip codes in Texas and California. In March 2026, FinCEN expanded it to additional counties, including Bernalillo County in New Mexico and Maricopa County in Arizona — areas that are not on the border. As of February 23, 2026, 86 covered businesses had filed 700,000 reports, according to a partly redacted FinCEN internal memo reviewed by The Guardian.

At Nachita's Grocery in El Paso — a family-run store that has served its predominantly Latino neighborhood for generations — the money services business is now nearly dead. Owner Evangelina Ornelas said customers stopped coming the moment they learned their personal information would be collected. Many are elderly or have limited mobility. Others simply cannot or will not provide a Social Security number. "I don't think it was to prevent money laundering," Ornelas said. "I was seeing a lot of people who were just not able to pay their bills or not able to send money to their families." Andy Payan, who runs a nearby convenience store with check-cashing services, put it bluntly: "The amounts that money launderers would need to launder are much too big to be laundered through here. They buy gold, they buy real estate, they buy cars."

Lawsuits and court battles

Multiple businesses have sued the Trump administration over the rule. The Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm, filed suit alongside the Texas Association of Money Services Businesses on behalf of small business owners. Rob Johnson, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, called the policy "invasive and unconstitutional," arguing it violates the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches. Federal district judges have blocked the rule's implementation for all affected businesses in California, and for businesses in Arizona and Texas that joined the lawsuit. The federal government appealed, and in July 2026 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that pause. A decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is still pending. A separate lawsuit was filed in April 2026 by Kiosko Multiservicios, a small business in Phoenix, challenging the $1,000 threshold. The company says it processed roughly 4,000 transactions above $1,000 in March alone — and that each report takes 24 minutes to complete, according to the government's own estimate. FinCEN and the Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment.

What to do

• If you use a casa de cambio or money service business to pay bills or send remittances, ask the business whether it is currently covered by the FinCEN geographic targeting order — and whether a court injunction has paused reporting requirements in your area.
• If you are asked to provide a Social Security number or government ID for a routine cash transaction, you have the right to ask why it is required and which law mandates it. You are not required to complete the transaction if you choose not to provide the information.
• If you own or work at a money service business covered by the order, contact a business attorney or the Institute for Justice (ij.org) to learn whether your business may be eligible to join an existing lawsuit or seek an injunction.
• Follow updates from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals — its ruling on the FinCEN rule is still pending and could affect businesses in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico.