Judge Blocks Treasury’s Anti-Cartel Rule Targeting $200 Cash Transactions Along Border

A federal judge in Texas said the cartel-targeting policy punishes law-abiding firms and offers little enforcement value.

An American and Texas flag fly in front of the skyline of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 23, 2022. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A federal judge in Texas has temporarily blocked a new Trump administration policy targeting small-dollar cross-border transactions aimed at curbing cartel money laundering, siding with two businesses who argued it was crippling their operations and scaring off customers.

In a June 24 ruling, U.S. District Judge Leon Schydlower granted a temporary restraining order to Valuta Corporation and Payan’s Fuel Center, two El Paso-based money services businesses, finding they were likely to succeed on their claim that the policy—requiring reports of cash transactions as low as $200—was arbitrary and capricious.