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The IRS has agreed to share certain tax information of undocumented immigrants with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), marking a significant policy reversal that aligns with the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement strategy.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you didn’t know, some illegal immigrants in the United States file taxes even though they are not authorized to work or live in the country. This is made possible through the use of an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), a number issued by the IRS to individuals who are not eligible for a Social Security Number but still have tax reporting obligations. Many illegal immigrants choose to file taxes for several reasons: to demonstrate good moral character, which could support future legal immigration applications, and to establish a record of residence and employment in the US According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, they estimate that illegal immigrants contributed roughly $97 billion in combined federal, state, and local taxes in 2022.
What’s going on now: In an announcement, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the IRS has entered into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access certain tax information about illegal immigrants. This agreement enables ICE to formally request names, addresses, and tax details of individuals under criminal investigation, citing a legal exemption in Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, which typically prohibits the IRS from sharing taxpayer information.
The requests must specify the relevant tax years, the criminal statute involved, and a justification for why the data is relevant to a non-tax-related criminal proceeding. This new agreement marks a reversal of a long-standing IRS policy, which historically resisted any efforts to share personal taxpayer data with immigration enforcement, even under prior administrations. For years, the IRS maintained that such protections were vital to encouraging undocumented immigrants to comply with tax laws.
Supporters of the MOU, particularly within the Trump administration, argue that the data-sharing initiative is necessary to bolster public safety and national security. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “Information sharing across agencies is essential to identify who is in our country, including violent criminals, determine what public safety and terror threats may exist so we can neutralize them.”
Democratic lawmakers and civil rights groups argue the policy is a dangerous precedent that could undermine trust in the tax system. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) said, “The IRS should never be weaponized to target immigrant families. No one should fear that filing their taxes puts their family at risk.”
