The IRS erroneously shared taxpayer information of thousands with the Department of Homeland Security as part of a controversial data-sharing agreement aimed at identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants. This revelation comes amid ongoing legal challenges and raises serious privacy concerns.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has admitted to erroneously sharing the taxpayer information of thousands of individuals with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This disclosure was part of a controversial data-sharing agreement, signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, designed to cross-verify immigrant names and addresses against tax records for deportation purposes. According to a new court filing by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo, the IRS was only able to verify approximately 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested. Crucially, for 'less than 5%' of these verified individuals, the IRS provided additional address information, potentially violating established privacy rules for taxpayer data. The IRS notified DHS of the error in January, requesting assistance in remediating the issue, including the appropriate disposal of the improperly shared data. This incident fuels ongoing litigation initiated by advocacy groups like Public Citizen against the federal government, challenging the legality of the data-sharing agreement. Federal courts have already intervened, with a Massachusetts federal court ordering the IRS to cease sharing residential addresses with ICE, and another federal court blocking information sharing last November, citing illegal dissemination of migrant tax data. Advocates express grave concerns that this unlawful release of confidential taxpayer records could lead to malicious targeting, privacy violations, and even endanger lives, underscoring the critical need for strict legal firewalls to protect sensitive personal information.
