A federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Boston, Massachusetts, rejected a request to pause a class-action lawsuit aimed at stopping collaboration between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Department of Justice, representing the administration of President Donald Trump and the defendant agencies, sought to delay the case due to the government shutdown, but Judge Indira Talwani denied the motion on Thursday.
“The plaintiffs’ interest in proceeding with this case outweighs the defendants’ interest in a stay of the proceedings, which allows the defendants’ attorneys to continue litigating during the funding lapse, in accordance with a court order.
Accordingly, the defendants’ request is denied,” Judge Talwani ruled.
The lawsuit was filed by the National Parents Union (NPU), along with the Community Economic Development Center of Southeast Massachusetts (CEDC), the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), and the UndocuBlack Network.
“The IRS and SSA recently agreed to review their files for confidential immigrant taxpayer information to share with the DHS and ICE […] which in turn stated its intent to use such information to locate immigrants, enforce civil immigration laws, and deport taxpayers,” the lawsuit alleges.
In response to the Justice Department’s request, plaintiffs told Judge Talwani that ICE continues to work on locating and deporting individuals, meaning there would be no reason to pause the lawsuit.
“In this case, a stay would delay resolution of the merits of the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction,” the judge acknowledged. “Without requiring the Defendants to suspend the challenged data-sharing practices during the stay. Plaintiffs allege that data-sharing between the IRS and ICE, as well as between the SSA and ICE, is ongoing.”
Court documents state that ICE has received information on at least 50,000 individuals, a figure derived from an August 2025 SSA letter outlining monthly data exchanges.
“Plaintiffs also note that ICE has continued its enforcement operations despite the lack of funding [due to the government shutdown],” Judge Talwani added.
This lawsuit is in addition to a similar case against ICE and the IRS in Washington, D.C., currently under review by the Court of Appeals for that jurisdiction.
Efforts Against Undocumented Immigrants
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its immigration agencies, including ICE, have sought to obtain IRS information on undocumented immigrants who pay taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, known as an ITIN.
“Specifically, we’re talking about taxpayers who have followed the rules, who have their ITIN numbers, who have been paying taxes, and what’s been happening is that they’ve been using this confidential and private information against families to build a database,” accused Christy Moreno, NPU’s national director of Community Organizing. “The intent is precisely to deport members of the community, and to do so as they’ve been doing—without due process, just by accessing information they shouldn’t, because it’s private and confidential information submitted as such by Congress.”
Moreno confirmed that this is a class-action lawsuit, meaning a court decision would have a nationwide impact for those who believe they could be affected by collaboration between ICE, the IRS, and the SSA.
Regarding the attempt to pause the case, Moreno said ICE—represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawna Yen in the Boston District Court—argued the government shutdown, but the agency continues to carry out immigration operations.
“The judge immediately said absolutely not [to the stay], because if [ICE] is working in the streets—and this is our position—if ICE is working and harming families every day, every minute of the day, this lawsuit continues,” Moreno added.
The lawsuit is in its early stages, and the judge will determine whether to grant the plaintiffs’ request against the federal agencies.
“We are fighting to prevent the government from weaponizing trust. No parent should have to choose between feeding their children and protecting them,” said Keri Rodrigues, NPU’s president, when this new legal action was filed. “This lawsuit seeks to restore dignity, safety, and justice for all families, regardless of where they were born, what language they speak, or what documents they have.”
The lawsuit names Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, under whom the IRS operates; Frank Bisignano, commissioner of the SSA; Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security; and Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE.
Image: Opinion
