Immigration officials could give names and addresses to IRS amid concerns over Trump administration\u2019s abuse of power<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reportedly nearing a deal to allow immigration officials to use tax data to support Donald Trump\u2019s deportation agenda, according to reports by the\u2002Washington Post.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the proposed data-sharing agreement, said to have been in negotiations for weeks, Immigration And Customs Enforcement (Ice) could hand over the names and addresses of undocumented immigrants to the IRS, raising concerns about abuse of power from the Trump administration<\/a> and the erosion of privacy rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If access to this confidential database is agreed upon, it would mark a significant shift, likely becoming the first time immigration officials have relied on the tax system for enforcement assistance in such a sweeping way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the agreement, the IRS would cross-reference names of undocumented immigrants with their confidential taxpayer databases, a move that would breach the long-standing trust in the confidentiality of tax information. Such data has historically been considered sensitive and thereby closely guarded, so the reported deal has raised alarm bells at the IRS, according to the Washington Post.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The IRS\u2002website<\/a> says that undocumented immigrants \u201care subject to US taxes despite their illegal status\u201d, and because most are unable to get social security numbers, the agency allows them to file with individual taxpayer numbers, known as ITINs. The agency also subjects them to the same reporting and withholding obligations as it does to US citizens who receive the same kind of income. More than half of the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US file income tax returns to document their payments to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the IRS mandates that taxpayer information is protected, section 6103 on the agency\u2019s\u2002website<\/a> outlines that \u201cunder court order, return information may be shared with law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution of non-tax criminal laws.\u201d However, sources familiar with the matter told the Washington Post that it would be rare for these privacy law exceptions to be weaponized for cooperation with immigration enforcement and that this is outside of standard procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The potential shift in taxpayer data use, from once being used to rarely build criminal cases to now reportedly becoming instrumental in enforcing criminal penalties, aligns with many of the more aggressive immigration policies Trump is pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During his campaign,\u2002Trump<\/a> promised to deport millions of undocumented people in the US, and the reports of this new deal shine a light on how he is planning on doing so. Since becoming president, he has ended legal pathways for immigrants to come and stay in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n