The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may use its data to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) locate illegal aliens.
The Washington Post reported that the two agencies are finalizing an agreement that would allow immigration officials to use confidential information from the IRS to pinpoint the illegal aliens that should be deported. The sources who shared this with the Post did so on the condition of anonymity (via WP):
Under the agreement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement could submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross-reference with confidential taxpayer databases, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of professional reprisals.
Normally, personal tax information — even an individual’s name and address — is considered confidential and closely guarded within the IRS. Unlawfully disclosing tax data carries civil and criminal penalties.
Portions of the draft agreement were obtained by the Post. The data ICE would be able to access would be limited to confirming the addresses of the illegal aliens.
Of course, left-wing supporters are against this. One IRS official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Post that they are completely against targeting “immigrants.” Predictably, they did not differentiate between legal and illegal immigrants.
“It is a complete betrayal of 30 years of the government telling immigrants to file their taxes,” the former IRS official told the Post.
Reportedly, the IRS allows illegal aliens to file taxes with individual taxpayer numbers rather than Social Security numbers.