The Internal Revenue Service will give taxpayer data about immigrants to US authorities conducting criminal investigations, saying it will support President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport people illegally in the US.
A memorandum of understanding was struck Monday between the Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, and the Department of Homeland Security to share information in response to valid law enforcement requests. The agreement was part of documents filed in a lawsuit by four immigration groups seeking to slow the Trump administration’s mass deportation policies.
The groups sued to block the IRS from potentially sharing taxpayer information about millions of non-citizens who don’t have Social Security numbers but may pay taxes after obtaining Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers. While federal officials say the agreement includes safeguards and applies only to criminal matters, immigrant and tax groups warn that the IRS shouldn’t reverse longstanding privacy policies to target migrants.
“The MOU only permits the lawful exchange of information for taxpayers who are under criminal investigation or subject to a criminal proceeding,” the Justice Department’s tax division said in a court filing. That agreement “simply establishes procedures and guardrails for ensuring that such requests and subsequent transfers of information are handled lawfully and securely.”
Being in the country without authorization is not a crime by itself, but the Trump administration has referred to those crossing the border illegally as criminals and has enlisted the IRS in its crackdown.
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This article originally appeared here and was republished with permission.
