A federal court has ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can access certain taxpayer information on undocumented immigrants through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), rejecting a legal challenge brought by human rights groups.
Judge Denies Request to Halt Data-Sharing Agreement
On May 12, Judge Dabney Friedrich of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied an injunction that sought to block a new data-sharing agreement between ICE and the IRS. The ruling allows the agreement to remain in effect while broader legal challenges continue.
Judge Friedrich, appointed during President Donald Trump’s first term, clarified the limitations of the agreement. She emphasized that ICE and other law enforcement agencies must first identify a suspect by name and address before requesting IRS records. In turn, the IRS is restricted to sharing only basic identifying information—such as names, addresses, and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs)—and must not disclose specific tax filing details.
ICE and IRS Agreement Signed in April
On April 7, ICE and the IRS signed a 15-page Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) detailing their data-sharing collaboration. Under the MOU, ICE can request information from the IRS on non-citizens suspected of committing federal crimes. The IRS may provide the subject’s name, address, and ITIN upon request.
An ITIN is a nine-digit number used for tax reporting purposes, often assigned to undocumented immigrants who do not have a Social Security number.
Human Rights Groups Object to Data Access
Human rights organizations strongly criticized the court’s decision, arguing that the data-sharing agreement violates federal privacy laws. They maintain that allowing ICE access to IRS-held taxpayer data undermines confidentiality protections and disproportionately targets undocumented immigrants.
The lawsuit aimed to stop the agreement’s implementation, but with the court’s ruling, ICE’s ability to request limited tax-related information from the IRS remains intact—for now.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
