CENTRO DE TRABAJADORES UNIDOS V. BESSENT LITIGATION FACT SHEET
The IRS is on the brink of sharing personal information (name and home address) contained in tax filings with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to target undocumented immigrants for mass deportations.
Immigrant-serving nonprofits are suing the Trump administration to block this illegal data sharing and protect immigrant taxpayers from having their confidential tax records leaked – a violation of civil rights and data privacy.
Litigation team: ● Public Citizen ● Raise the Floor Alliance ● Alan Morrison
Plaintiffs: Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (Illinois) ● Immigrant Solidarity Dupage (Illinois) ● Somos Un Pueblo Unido (New Mexico) ● Inclusive Action for the City (California)
Timeline and status:
- On May 21, plaintiffs filed an appeal of the judge’s ruling on the preliminary injunction, which will elevate the decision to the appellate court to determine. Regardless of the ruling on the injunction, this case remains ongoing and the facts of the case have yet to be heard in court. Further details on the case timeline, as well as legal filings, can be found here.
- On May 12, the court denied the request for a preliminary injunction, stating that the IRS likely could lawfully share taxpayer address information with ICE solely to support a criminal investigation not for civil enforcement (i.e. mass deportations).
- On March 31, we filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the IRS from sharing taxpayer information with DHS and ICE while this case is ongoing.
- On March 26, we filed an amended complaint adding new plaintiffs, and adding the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons as defendants.
- On March 14, we filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. The court denied that motion after the IRS represented that taxpayer information had not yet been released to immigration enforcement authorities.
- On March 7, this case, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos v. Bessent, was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The assigned judge is Dabney Friedrich.
About ITIN:
- This lawsuit revolves around the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) policy, which has been available as an alternative to Social Security numbers for undocumented people to pay taxes in the United States since the 1990s.
- ITIN has become a key step in unlocking doors to economic inclusion for millions of people.
- In addition to using ITIN to file their taxes, undocumented people can also use ITIN to apply for a mortgage to purchase a home, apply for small business loans or licenses to participate in entrepreneurship, and access educational opportunities.
Undocumented immigrants and taxes:
- Contrary to myths and misperceptions, undocumented immigrants pay taxes.
- As of December 31, 2022, the IRS had issued 26 million ITINs since the program’s inception in 1996.
- In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid a total of $96.7 billion in federal, state, and local taxes. $59.4 billion of that was paid to the federal government.
- More than a third of the tax dollars paid by undocumented immigrants go toward funding programs that these workers are barred from accessing. For example, undocumented immigrants paid $25.7 billion into Social Security and $6.4 billion into Medicare in 2022, but are ineligible to receive these benefits. In this way, undocumented workers subsidize benefits received by other Americans.