WASHINGTON — A federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday denied a request from an immigrant rights group to temporarily block the IRS from sharing certain taxpayer data that could make it easier to identify and deport people who are in the United States illegally.
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction to the immigrant rights group, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, and other nonprofits suing the federal government over a data-sharing agreement signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Besent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The agreement allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit the names and addresses of immigrants inside the United States illegally to the IRS for verification of tax records.
In denying the preliminary injunction request, Judge Harry T. Edwards wrote that the nonprofit groups are “unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim,” since the information the agencies share is not covered by the IRS Privacy Act.
A representative for Centro de Trabajadores Unidos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that the court’s decision was a “decisive victory” for the administration. “Deporting illegal aliens makes the American people safer,” Bondi said in her post.
The Trump administration said the agreement helps implement President Donald Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders, and is part of his larger nationwide crackdown on immigration, which has led to deportations and workplace raids.
The creation of the data-sharing agreement was so controversial that the acting IRS commissioner resigned last year over the deal.
Earlier this month, it was revealed in court filings that the IRS wrongly shared taxpayer information for thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the agreement.
An announcement filed by IRS Chief Risk and Oversight Officer Dottie Romo said the IRS was only able to verify approximately 47,000 of the 1.28 million names requested by ICE. For less than 5% of these individuals, the IRS gave ICE additional address information, which may violate privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data.
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Associated Press reporter Alana Durkin Richer contributed to this report.
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