The Internal Revenue Service is approaching an agreement that would grant U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials access to taxpayer data to verify the identity of those suspected of illegal immigration.
The partnership would allow ICE to submit the names and addresses of undocumented migrants with final removal orders to the IRS, which would then cross-reference the information with confidential tax records, reports the Washington Post.
If approved, the agreement would mark a shift in the agency’s long standing confidentiality policies and immigration control.
Federal tax code currently requires that the IRS keep individual taxpayer information private, only allowing access to law enforcement agencies for the investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws. The Trump administration is hinging on the narrow exception as the newest development of its mass deportation campaign.
Critics like immigration attorney David Leopold believe that the agreement poses a threat to taxpayer privacy across the board, from those who are undocumented to those born in the United States.
“I have real privacy concerns here,” said Leopold. “We’re inevitably going to be encroaching on the taxes and the privacy of American citizens.”
Others, like CNN legal analyst Michael Moore, find the move a stark departure from President Donald Trump’s during his last term, noting his reluctance in releasing previous tax records.
“There was this huge claim that there would be, in fact, that this was some privacy information that shouldn’t be let out under federal law, and so that’s really the issue here,” said Moore.
In 2024, undocumented immigrants contributed nearly $60 billion in federal taxes, complying with the IRS’ substantial presence test that attributes U.S. residency for tax purposes regardless of legal status.
Though the agreement has yet to be implemented, with Tax Day approaching on April 15, its potential impact on federal revenue remains uncertain.
