FinCEN’s New Rule Targets Border Transactions, Raises Privacy Concerns

‘This development is bad for the Fourth Amendment because it takes away what’s left of peoples’ financial privacy,’ attorney Rob Johnson said.

A Mexican National Guard officer patrols border area in eastern Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, on March 5, 2025. Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images

Money transfers of $200 or more, if conducted through a money service business in more than two dozen ZIP codes across California and Texas, will soon have to be reported to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Unit (FinCEN). The new rule significantly expands the scope of warrantless searches of Americans’ financial activity in what officials say is an effort to fight Mexican drug cartels.

It reduces the reporting threshold from the prior level of $10,000, and no warrant or evidence of a crime is required.