A federal court ruled Monday that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is legally authorized to share taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), specifically for criminal immigration investigations.
The decision allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access limited taxpayer data to assist in identifying and deporting certain illegal immigrants.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich issued the ruling, rejecting a legal challenge from several immigrant rights organizations that sought to block the IRS-DHS data-sharing arrangement.
The lawsuit was filed against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Trump administration, alleging that the interagency information-sharing agreement violated taxpayer privacy protections under federal law.
At the center of the dispute was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the IRS and DHS.
The plaintiffs argued that the MOU enabled an unconstitutional exchange of private data that could be used to target individuals for deportation.
Judge Friedrich, however, ruled that the agreement complied with the Internal Revenue Code because it limits information-sharing strictly to criminal investigations.
“At its core, this case presents a narrow legal issue: Does the Memorandum of Understanding between the IRS and DHS violate the Internal Revenue Code? It does not,” Friedrich wrote, according to Fox News.
The court found no evidence that the agencies were violating tax confidentiality statutes.
The ruling emphasized that the agreement does not permit the use of taxpayer data for civil immigration enforcement.
Judge Friedrich acknowledged that sharing data for civil matters would potentially constitute a legal injury but noted, “The Court agrees that requesting and receiving information for civil enforcement purposes would constitute a cognizable injury, but none of the organizations have established that such an injury is imminent.”
Plaintiffs in the case included nonprofit organizations such as Centro de Trabajadores Unidos and Immigrant Solidarity DuPage.
These groups argued that the Trump administration’s information-sharing strategy violated the privacy rights of taxpayers, particularly undocumented immigrants who filed tax returns or were listed in IRS databases.
The MOU allows the IRS to verify names and suspected addresses of illegal immigrants with outstanding deportation orders, using tax data to confirm or match the information provided by DHS.
In these instances, The Post Millennial (TPM) highlighted that ICE can utilize IRS records to locate individuals for whom deportation proceedings have already been ordered, provided the purpose aligns with an ongoing criminal investigation.
Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS assistant secretary of public affairs, released a statement defending the program and supporting the court’s decision.
“Information sharing across agencies is essential… so we can neutralize [public safety and terror threats], scrub these individuals from voter rolls, as well as identify what public benefits these aliens are using at taxpayer expense,” she said.
McLaughlin added that the decision affirms the Trump administration’s approach to government coordination.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the government is finally doing what it should have all along—sharing information across the federal government to solve problems.”
The Trump administration has consistently prioritized immigration enforcement, calling for stronger cooperation among federal agencies to locate and remove individuals who have entered the country illegally.
This includes expanding ICE operations and increasing deportations of individuals with criminal records or pending deportation orders.
Monday’s ruling supports this broader enforcement effort by allowing ICE to use taxpayer data when necessary to track criminal suspects.
However, it also places legal boundaries on how the information can be used, limiting the data exchange to situations involving potential criminal activity.
The court made it clear that civil immigration enforcement, such as checking immigration status without a related crime, is not covered under the current agreement.
The IRS is still required to protect taxpayer confidentiality in all other matters outside the scope of the MOU.
