Federal Judge Blocks IRS from Sharing Taxpayer Information with ICE for Deportations

A federal judge has blocked the Internal Revenue Service from providing Immigration and Customs Enforcement with home addresses of taxpayers suspected of being undocumented immigrants. The ruling pauses a controversial data-sharing arrangement the Trump administration had been using to accelerate mass deportations during the first year of Trump’s second term.

The decision marks a significant win for immigrant-rights organizations and advocates who argued the program violated federal privacy laws designed to protect sensitive taxpayer information. While the administration can still appeal, it previously scored some reversals on lower-court losses in related immigration cases.

Court records show the IRS has already supplied ICE with information on about 47,000 potentially undocumented taxpayers, far fewer than the millions the administration had requested. Homeland Security officials said the data would help locate individuals who are in the country illegally and already have deportation orders issued by a judge. However, the IRS rejected repeated attempts by the administration to hand over additional records, leading to months of internal friction and the resignation or removal of multiple IRS commissioners, including Trump ally Billy Long.

In a detailed 94-page opinion, District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that the IRS violated strict legal standards governing confidentiality of taxpayer information. She found that the agency failed to meet statutory requirements for disclosure and that the program endangered undocumented taxpayers who had long been encouraged to file taxes with promises their information would remain confidential except in rare cases.

Kollar-Kotelly also questioned the credibility of several arguments made by the Justice Department, including claims that a single ICE agent was overseeing up to 47,000 potential criminal and immigration cases — or possibly over 1.2 million cases — as ICE had represented to the IRS.

The case was brought by the Center for Taxpayer Rights, which argued that the program harmed its clients, many of whom are undocumented immigrants who pay taxes using individual taxpayer identification numbers. Millions of undocumented immigrants pay federal taxes each year under longstanding assurances that their private information would not be used for immigration enforcement.

Advocacy groups praised the ruling, saying it reinforces post-Watergate privacy protections and prevents misuse of government power. Democracy Forward president Skye Perryman called the decision “an important win” for millions whose personal information was at risk.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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