Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A new financial surveillance dragnet is sweeping up ordinary cash transactions at small businesses near the US-Mexico border. The federal government has placed onerous new requirements on businesses that help people without bank accounts cash checks or send money to family members. It’s demanding reports on all transactions involving at least $200 in cash, subjecting innocent people to warrantless surveillance and burying small businesses in paperwork.
Today we chat with IJ attorneys Rob Johnson and Betsy Sanz to talk about how IJ is fighting back against financial surveillance and the government’s war on cash.
LINKS:
Become a Monthly Donor: ij.org/support/give-now/?recurring=1&monthlyother=5&utm_campaign=Monthly+Podcast+Ad&utm_medium=Advertising&utm_source=YouTube&utm_content=fincen-BTB
Audio (RSS) Version of the Show: ij.org/podcast/beyond-the-brief
Case Page: ij.org/case/fincen-border-cash-surveillance
Report Abuse: ij.org/report-abuse
About Beyond the Brief:
Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing IJ’s fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Beyond the Brief explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. Each episode gives listeners an in-depth, inside look at how—and why—we do what we do.
A new financial surveillance dragnet is sweeping up ordinary cash transactions at small businesses near the US-Mexico border. The federal government has placed onerous new requirements on businesses that help people without bank accounts cash checks or send money to family members. It’s demanding reports on all transactions involving at least $200 in cash, subjecting innocent people to warrantless surveillance and burying small businesses in paperwork.
Today we chat with IJ attorneys Rob Johnson and Betsy Sanz to talk about how IJ is fighting back against financial surveillance and the government’s war on cash.
LINKS:
Become a Monthly Donor: ij.org/support/give-now/?recurring=1&monthlyother=5&utm_campaign=Monthly+Podcast+Ad&utm_medium=Advertising&utm_source=YouTube&utm_content=fincen-BTB
Audio (RSS) Version of the Show: ij.org/podcast/beyond-the-brief
Case Page: ij.org/case/fincen-border-cash-surveillance
Report Abuse: ij.org/report-abuse
About Beyond the Brief:
Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing IJ’s fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Beyond the Brief explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. Each episode gives listeners an in-depth, inside look at how—and why—we do what we do.
