Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, of the District of Columbia, has prohibited the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from sharing any type of information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) aimed at deporting foreign nationals lacking legal status living in the United States.
In a 94-page ruling regarding a lawsuit filed by the Taxpayer Rights Center jointly with other groups against the IRS, the New York magistrate deemed the transfer of data exposing immigrants “illegal.”
In her view, there was a “substantial probability” that the information-sharing agreement with ICE violated provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, which would contravene the IRS’s “strict confidentiality policy,” leading to her decision to ban it.
“The plaintiffs have demonstrated that the IRS’s disclosure of confidential taxpayer address information to ICE was contrary to law,” Judge Kollar-Kotelly stated.
Earlier this year, ICE officials requested over 1.2 million records from the IRS, which included, among other data, taxpayers’ addresses, dates of birth, and fingerprint identification numbers.
The controversy lies in the fact that more than 47,000 of those records matched profiles of individuals sought for being immigrants subject to possible deportation.
The law stipulates that the tax agency may share personal data for federal criminal investigations or proceedings, provided it has obtained approval from a court or the agency head.
In this regard, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling will prevent ICE from accessing the requested information, complicating its strategy to deport foreign nationals it considers a risk to national security.
Skye Perryman, executive director of Democracy Forward—a nonprofit organization that promotes the protection of democracy in the United States—issued a statement calling the ruling a blow against illegality.
“This is an important victory for millions of people in the United States whose information has been threatened by the Trump-Vance administration, and it represents the first court order against this illegal data-sharing. Paying taxes does not mean giving up the right to privacy,” she stated.
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