(NewsNation) — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is close to finalizing an agreement that would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to access confidential taxpayer information to locate undocumented immigrants targeted for deportation, The Washington Post reported.
The proposed data-sharing arrangement would permit ICE to submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS for verification against tax records.
This would mark a significant shift in longstanding IRS policy, which has traditionally kept taxpayer information strictly confidential.
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According to portions of a draft agreement obtained by the Post, ICE access would be limited to confirming addresses of immigrants with final removal orders. Requests could only be submitted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem or acting ICE director Todd Lyons, per the Post.
The agreement would authorize data verification for individuals “subject to criminal investigation” for violating immigration law, the draft states.
Career officials at the IRS have expressed alarm about the proposed arrangement, concerned that it could misuse a narrow exception to taxpayer privacy laws intended for criminal investigations rather than immigration enforcement, the Post reported.
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For decades, the IRS has assured undocumented immigrants that their tax information would remain confidential, encouraging them to file tax returns without fear of deportation. Approximately half of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States file income tax returns, per the Post.
