The Internal Revenue Service began sharing sensitive taxpayer data this week with immigration authorities searching for undocumented migrants, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
As part of President Donald Trump’s massive deportation push, the Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security signed an agreement in April to turn over information about undocumented immigrants who DHS says are already facing deportation orders and are under federal criminal investigation.
While the IRS has disclosed sensitive tax data previously for specific reasons allowable under privacy law, the agency has never shared such large volumes of data with any agency for the sole purpose of large-scale immigration enforcement.
The records include personal information like names, addresses and tax data of immigrants, which will enable DHS to confirm the home addresses and location for individuals it says are facing final orders of removal or who are the subjects of federal criminal investigations.
The data sharing started this week after a “push” from the Trump administration to get it underway, one of the sources said.
It comes after months of tension within IRS over the plans and internal concerns from career officials about the legality of the collaboration. The chaos led to the resignation or impending departure of several senior IRS officials earlier this year, CNN previously reported.
The start of the data sharing also comes as Trump is ousting Billy Long from his role as IRS commissioner, CNN reported earlier Friday.
One of the sources told CNN that Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked for personal information for 1.23 million people it suspects are in the country illegally but only a small fraction, less than 5%, was shared because the data ICE sent IRS did not have exact matching data to confirm the individuals they were looking for.
“Less than 5% isn’t what they were hoping for,” the source said.
The White House was not happy with the number of records shared and called about the lack of data first thing Friday morning, the second source added.
In response to CNN’s reporting, a White House spokeswoman said, “ The Trump Administration is working together to implement President Trump’s executive order to stop waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating information silos and to prevent illegal aliens from taking advantage of benefits meant for hardworking American taxpayers. Any absurd assertion other than everyone being aligned on the mission is simply false and total fake news.”
CNN has reached out to DHS and Treasury for comment.
CNN previously reported in April, DHS officials told the IRS they need access to its data to help them locate up to 7 million suspected undocumented immigrants – an eye-popping figure that “shocked” IRS employees.
The IRS has addresses for undocumented immigrants because many register with the agency and pay billions of dollars in taxes each year – in exchange for their data staying confidential in most circumstances.
Tax information has generally been closely held within the IRS, but strict privacy laws outline some exceptions – for example, the data may be shared with law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws. However, it’s unclear if DHS has provided the IRS with evidence that all 7 million individuals they are hoping to locate using IRS data are under investigation or face prosecution for non-tax criminal laws.
Undocumented immigrants are often urged to register with the IRS and pay their federal taxes because it makes them look like law-abiding residents and could aid their immigration case.
Lawyers who represent immigrant groups have argued that the IRS/DHS data sharing deal means the IRS has gone back on its duty to protect taxpayer information from improper disclosure and will open the door for federal law enforcement to gain access to confidential taxpayer information without obtaining a court order as required by law.
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