In brief
A recent court filing revealed that the IRS inadvertently disclosed taxpayer information to the DHS as part of a contentious data-sharing agreement intended to identify and deport undocumented immigrants. The IRS only verified a small fraction of the names provided by the ICE, raising alarms about privacy breaches. Advocacy groups have filed lawsuits in response to these actions, fearing the ramifications for newly disclosed personal data.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS mistakenly shared the taxpayer information of thousands with the Department of Homeland Security as part of a controversial agreement aimed at identifying and deporting undocumented individuals in the U.S., according to a new court filing.
This revelation arose from a data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, which allowed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to submit names and addresses of immigrants for cross-verification against tax records. A declaration from IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo disclosed that the IRS managed to verify only about 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested.
Romo noted that for less than 5% of those individuals, the IRS provided ICE with additional address information, potentially breaching privacy protections meant to safeguard taxpayer data.
After the error was identified, the Treasury instructed DHS in January to take corrective measures consistent with federal law, which included the proper disposal of the data provided to ICE.
The IRS-DHS data-sharing agreement has incited legal action from advocacy groups, including Public Citizen, which filed a lawsuit against various officials alleging violations of privacy. Recently, a federal court in Massachusetts ordered the IRS to halt sharing residential addresses with ICE, and a prior ruling blocked the IRS from sharing information with DHS due to illegal data dissemination.
"This breach of confidential information substantiates our lawsuit," said Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen. "Sharing private taxpayer data not only causes chaos but also puts lives at risk if federal agents misuse this information." Tom Bowman from the Center for Democracy & Technology added, "The improper sharing of taxpayer data is both unsafe and unlawful, exposing innocent individuals to significant risks."
Authorities are now facing pressure to restore privacy protections amidst ongoing scrutiny over how such sensitive information is handled, especially concerning undocumented immigrants.
