Groups Renew Effort to Stop Imminent Deal between IRS and ICE to Share Taxpayer Info
Washington D.C. — Today, Public Citizen Litigation Group, Alan Morrison and Raise the Floor Alliance filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against Trump Administration officials to stop the IRS from disclosing tax return information to immigration enforcement authorities.
Defendants in the case are Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krauss, the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. Plaintiffs in the case are Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Immigrant Solidarity Dupage, Inclusive Action for the City and Somos Un Pueblo Unido.
The new filing comes after the court rejected the groups’ initial request to block the IRS from sharing taxpayer information with DHS and ICE because no deal was imminent. Only days after the court’s ruling came reports of an impending IRS agreement with ICE that would allow immigration officials access to legally protected taxpayer info.
Like other workers, undocumented workers are required to pay income taxes. By law, the IRS is required to treat their tax records like every other taxpayer’s: as private and confidential, unless disclosure is specifically allowed by law.
Public Citizen Attorney Nandan Joshi, who leads the case, said the law does not permit the IRS to disclose tax records to make it easier for immigration authorities to locate workers for deportation.
“Congress was clear that immigration officers cannot obtain tax data from the IRS to locate immigrants,” said Joshi. “Trump administration officials should respect the limits that Congress imposed instead of looking for ways to skirt them.”
“The court must intervene now before irreversible harm is done.” says Sophia Zaman, Executive Director of Raise the Floor Alliance. “This isn’t just bureaucratic overreach—it’s part of Trump’s broader power grab, designed to destabilize immigrant communities, wreck the economy, and further entrench workers into unstable conditions. Low-wage workers who file taxes using Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) will be among the hardest hit. Without taxpayer privacy, our federal government could lose out on billions of revenue dollars needed to fund essential services that are already being pulled away.”
“This is an emergency—the court must act immediately to stop the IRS before they share immigrant taxpayers’ confidential information with ICE to target them for deportation,” said Rudy Espinoza, CEO of Inclusive Action for the City. “Immigrants pay hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes and build businesses that create jobs and grow our economy—all based on the promise that their information will be safe. The Administration’s illegal attempts to breach data privacy hurts those who have played by the rules—it will destroy lives and families, erase billions in government revenue, shutter small businesses, and dismantle our economy.”
“We are fighting back against this racist attack,” said Cristobal Cavazos, executive Director of Casa Dupage Workers Center. “If the Trump Administration thinks that it weaponizes our taxes as yet another front of attack against the Latino immigrant community, well the Trump administration is going to find another front of struggle. The Latino community is rejecting the scapegoating against our community around the US, organizing against ICE Terror, boycotting companies like Goya, Miller and Nestle that support our enemies and now taking on the Trump’s Administration’s attempt to use our taxes to violate our dignity and decency, turning the taxman into a hangman, we move more taxes – close to 100 billion in federal state and local taxes – and we will not be moved!”
“If the IRS shares confidential taxpayer information with DHS, it will discourage immigrants from filing taxes,” said Ana Guajardo, executive director of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos: United Workers’ Center. “This would shrink the tax base over time, reducing critical funding for Social Security, Medicare, and other essential programs that all Americans depend on. It would also negatively impact business tax revenue. Immigrants are a driving force behind small business growth. In key economic hubs like the 26th Street corridor and South Chicago near the Indiana border, immigrant entrepreneurs fuel local economies and create jobs. Many of these business owners come from mixed-status families, meaning the impact would ripple across entire communities. We are committed to supporting our communities and will ensure that taxpayers’ information is protected. Enough is enough!”
The documents from the case can be found here. For additional information on the case, or to request an interview with the litigation team or our plaintiffs, contact Katie Garcia, kgarcia@citizen.org.