IRS on the verge of a deal to share addresses of potential illegal immigrants with ICE

The Washington Post revealed that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was reportedly on the verge of reaching an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide tax data to confirm the names and addresses of those suspected of being in the country illegally. Four anonymous sources familiar with the case told the newspaper that, if this agreement materializes, ICE would send this data to the IRS to cross-reference it with confidential databases of the taxpayers. Also, these sources explained that the potential agreement has been alarming to many IRS officials because of the legal implications, considering that the disclosure of a person's tax data can carry civil and criminal penalties, unless approved by a court.

According to a draft of the agreement obtained by the media outlet, ICE’s access to this tax data would only be limited to confirming the addresses of those who are proven to be illegal immigrants and who have already received an order to leave the United States. The memo added that the only officials who could file the requests would be acting ICE Director Todd Lyons or Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Also, the draft agreement detailed that all requests must include not only the contributor's address and name, but also the date of his or her deportation order, noting that the potential agreement would allow for verification of data for those individuals who are "subject to a criminal investigation" for violating the country's immigration laws.

An unprecedented agreement

Both the Post and other media outlets noted that, if this agreement is finalized, it would be the first time that U.S. immigration authorities have resorted to IRS for large-scale enforcement assistance. They also noted that the agreement would mark a before and after for the IRS, given that the agency allows illegal immigrants to file their tax returns using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs).

The agreement would also represent a radical change in the IRS’ stance with respect to collaborating with other agencies on this issue, since only a couple of weeks ago the agency rejected a formal request by the Department of Homeland Security to obtain different data of 700,000 people that the government suspected of being in the country illegally.