Trump Administration Uses IRS Data for Mass Deportations

The administration of Donald Trump is attempting to utilize the Internal Revenue Service as an intelligence-gathering tool to facilitate a mass deportation campaign. To achieve this, the United States Department of the Treasury signed a memorandum in April authorizing the sharing of information on migrants facing deportation or criminal investigation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

These efforts conflict with federal laws that prohibit the sharing of Individual Taxpayer Identification Number data for civil immigration enforcement. The IRS has shown internal resistance to the initiative, verifying fewer than 3% of 40,000 addresses requested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This tension has coincided with extreme leadership instability, with the agency seeing seven different bosses since January, including the departure of Commissioner Billy Long, who served less than two months before becoming ambassador to Iceland.

Legal experts and critics warn that using tax data for enforcement may discourage undocumented immigrants from paying taxes, a contribution currently totaling nearly $100 billion annually. Additionally, critics argue that simultaneous budget cuts to the IRS are facilitating tax evasion among the wealthiest citizens while the agency is distracted by immigration enforcement goals.