The Trump administration confirmed in a federal court on Wednesday (20) that there are “ongoing discussions” between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding the sharing of highly confidential data on undocumented taxpayers with the aim of expediting deportations.
Undocumented immigrants can register with the IRS and pay taxes using an ‘ITIN number’. The agency is required to keep their private information confidential, except in very specific circumstances described in the tax code. Undocumented immigrants are often encouraged to report income and pay the necessary taxes with the intention of showing that they are contributing and fulfilling their duties as residents, rather than just benefiting from services. They are reminded all the time that filing taxes will not put them in the crosshairs of immigration.
But not under the current administration.
“There are ongoing discussions … about information sharing” between the IRS and Homeland Security, said Justice Department attorney Andrew Weisberg on Wednesday during a hearing in federal court in DC.
Weisberg refused to provide further details when pressed by a judge. But he stated that the IRS would only disclose information about undocumented immigrants if Homeland Security submitted individual requests for data about a specific person that fell under the provisions allowing legal disclosures.
The hearing took place because two groups advocating for immigrant rights filed a lawsuit to prevent the IRS from handing over data on these immigrants to immigration authorities.
Several media outlets reported in February that the IRS rejected a request from Homeland Security to provide the residential addresses of 700,000 people suspected of being in the country illegally. A senior IRS official stated in a sworn declaration earlier this week that the agency did not provide any information to Homeland Security about the 700,000 individuals in question.
District Judge Dabney Friedrich refused on Wednesday to issue an emergency order blocking the IRS from sharing this data, concluding that the groups suing the government did not present sufficient evidence that this was at immediate risk of happening and that sharing data with Homeland Security would violate the law.
Source: CNN