Arizona Bill Targeting Financial Services for Illegal Immigrants Advances in House Committee

Legislation in Arizona that would impose new restrictions on financial services for illegal immigrants advanced this week in the state House.

Senate Bill 1421, sponsored by State Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-LD7), received a “do pass” recommendation from the Arizona House Commerce Committee on March 24, according to legislative records.

Rogers announced the committee action in a post on X, writing, “Arizona House Commerce Cte passed my SB1421 DENYING ILLEGALS banking AND sending of remittances out of the United States.” 

Arizona House Commerce Cte passed my SB1421 DENYING ILLEGALS banking AND sending of remittances out of the United States… draining our economy. pic.twitter.com/OKD29EsOL8

— Wendy Rogers (@WendyRogersAZ) March 25, 2026

During her presentation to the committee, Rogers described the measure as restricting certain financial activities by individuals who are not U.S. citizens.

“This says that unless you’re a U.S. citizen, you cannot send remittances home, essentially, and or deal with banks in the same way,” Rogers said during committee testimony.

Rogers also referenced a prior Senate debate on the bill, stating that a banking industry lobbyist opposed the measure’s regulatory provisions.

“We had a lobbyist from the banking industry that said we don’t want to be regulated,” Rogers said. “You want to benefit from dealing with back-and-forth exchanges with non-citizens… but you don’t want to be regulated.”

She characterized the legislation as an effort to address financial flows outside the United States, stating it was “a method to reassert our sovereignty as United States citizens in terms of where the economy and our profits are going,” adding, “they should not be going back home to other countries.”

SB 1421, titled “undocumented aliens; financial services,” would prohibit financial institutions operating in Arizona from accepting certain forms of identification issued to individuals who are in the United States illegally. The bill bars banks from accepting “a license or identification card issued exclusively to an unauthorized alien or undocumented immigrant” when opening accounts or providing services. 

The legislation also restricts lending practices by prohibiting the issuance of loans if the application allows the use of an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) as the borrower’s identifying documentation.

In addition, the bill establishes new requirements for foreign remittance transfers. Money transmission businesses would be required to verify that a sender is not an unauthorized alien before completing a transfer and would be subject to reporting requirements and potential penalties for noncompliance.

The measure further applies similar identification restrictions to check-cashing businesses and authorizes enforcement through civil penalties.

SB 1421 passed the Arizona Senate in February and now awaits further consideration in the Arizona House.