The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are nearing an agreement that would permit ICE to access taxpayer information to locate illegal immigrants subject to deportation.
A historic agreement would allow ICE to submit the names and addresses of illegal immigrants to cross-check against IRS tax records, a shift in longstanding IRS policy aimed at keeping taxpayer information strictly confidential, according to a report in the Washington Post.
The current draft agreement, obtained by the Washington Post, would limit ICE to confirm the addresses of illegal immigrants who have final removal orders, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons would be the only two people authorized to submit requests to the IRS.
Ramped-up immigration enforcement has been a priority of the Trump administration, largely through the Department of Homeland Security, overseen by Secretary Kristi Noem. (Getty Images)
The draft agreement language authorizes address verification on individuals “subject to criminal investigation” for violating immigration law, taking advantage of a narrow exception to IRS privacy laws that allow for the use of taxpayer data to aid criminal investigations.
The report notes that some veteran IRS officials have expressed concerns about the agreement, arguing that the narrow exception was meant only for criminal investigations and not for immigration enforcement. The officials also worry that the policy will hinder tax collection from illegal immigrants, who are still subject to federal taxes despite being in the country illegally.
The IRS has for years given illegal immigrants assurances that their tax information is confidential, the report notes, a policy that has helped them collect over 5 million tax returns from undocumented migrants.Â
Access to tax records could help ICE with rounding up illegal immigrants for deportation. (ICE)
The news comes as President Donald Trump has continued to ramp up the deportation effort he promised on the campaign trail, with the president attempting to use every available resource in order to aid immigration officials.
Longtime IRS employee Doug O’Donnell, who was serving as acting IRS commissioner last month, abruptly resigned after 38 years of working for the agency after rejecting a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) request for dates on more than 700,000 illegal immigrants.
The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building appeared to be mostly empty on April 27, 2020 in the Federal Triangle section of Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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O’Donnell was replaced by Melanie Krause, whom the report notes has shown more willingness to partner with DHS.
The agreement between the IRS and ICE has yet to be finalized. Neither agency immediately responded to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
