WASHINGTON—As President Donald Trump pushes for expanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations and urges agents to use all available means to carry out mass deportations, America’s Credit Unions has released guidance for credit unions on how to respond if ICE agents show up at their branches.
ACU’s “Primer on Potential ICE Encounters Onsite at Credit Unions” notes, “A number of credit unions have questions on and are seeking assistance in navigating situations involving (1) the presence of ICE and whether they can be restricted if those officials attempt to enter the credit union’s premises, including branch locations and attendant parking lots, and (2) whether and under what circumstances can the credit union share the financial records of members who possess an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) as their method to confirm personal identity obtained through the Customer Identification Program (CIP) process.”
ACU Chief Advocacy Officer Carrie Hunt addressed issuing the primer.
"America's Credit Unions is here to support our member credit unions through a variety of regulatory compliance challenges and questions,” she said. “Based on existing legal requirements and publicly available information, we provided a resource to members related to recent activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It is not specific to any incident or trend in credit unions."
The primer (CUToday.info has obtained a copy) addresses steps CUs can take to address situations where ICE agents enter the credit union, what the agents are allowed to do, and more. It notes the “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Regulation P protect consumers’ nonpublic personal information from being disclosed to third parties barring proper disclosure and/or an applicable exception. Regulation P defines a consumer as “an individual who obtains or has obtained a financial product or service from you that is to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, or that individual's legal representative”, and does not appear to differentiate based on immigration status.”
The five-page document also covers where inside a credit union ICE agents can enter.
“Generally, the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches, including searches of private spaces. Credit unions are considered to be both public and private places and have the right, theoretically, to deny entry to ICE officials to private areas. In general, ICE agents may enter public areas of credit unions. If ICE comes to one of your facilities, they have the right to enter any public areas on the property. ICE agents must be allowed access to any portion of the property that an ordinary member of the public would be allowed to enter. For example, parking lots and lobbies are treated differently as they are considered to be public places, meaning that the credit union would not be able to restrict access. However, in order to enter private areas of a credit union, ICE agents would need a judicial warrant. As such, for added protection and distinction, a credit union may choose to designate certain areas with a ‘Private’ sign.”
The primer also states that the information it provides “should not be construed as providing legal services, legal advice or in any way establishing an attorney-client relationship”