The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has mistakenly revealed sensitive data of numerous taxpayers to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) due to a contentious agreement allowing the sharing of immigration information to identify undocumented immigrants, according to a recent court document.
Last spring, the IRS, Treasury Department, and DHS finalized a deal that permitted taxpayer information to be shared with immigration services, aiming to target illegal immigrants. This agreement led to the resignation of an IRS official and permitted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide the IRS with the names and addresses of suspected illegal immigrants for verification against tax records.
Dottie Romo, the IRS Chief Risk and Management Officer, stated that the IRS confirmed approximately 47,000 out of the 1.28 million names requested by ICE, and these were subsequently disclosed to immigration authorities.
The IRS shared address information for under 5% of these names, raising concerns that this could breach privacy protections meant to secure taxpayer data. The agency revealed that it recently recognized this error and is collaborating with federal partners to address the situation.
Romo mentioned that the Treasury Department informed DHS of the mistake last month and sought help in promptly correcting the issue, adhering to federal guidelines related to data misuse.
This agreement, struck last year, drew criticism, ultimately leading to a lawsuit against the Trump administration. It departed from the IRS’s historical stance of encouraging immigrants to pay taxes by assuring them their information would remain confidential, regardless of their legal status in the U.S.
Soon after the agreement was reached, a legal action was initiated on behalf of various immigrant advocacy organizations against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
A federal judge recently ruled that the IRS must cease sharing residential addresses with ICE, marking the second judicial order to block the IRS-DHS collaboration. Previously, another federal judge ruled against the IRS for unlawfully sharing taxpayer information with DHS last summer, breaching confidentiality laws.
Advocacy groups have voiced alarm over the potential misuse of released taxpayer information, fearing it could lead to unwarranted targeting of American citizens and breaches of privacy. Tom Bowman, a policy adviser at the Center for Democracy and Technology, expressed concerns about the ramifications of releasing taxpayer data to immigration authorities, stating that “mistakes are inevitable,” and the fallout can affect innocent individuals. He emphasized the importance of strict legal protections designed to safeguard sensitive information.
