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- The IRS is creating a system that would allow ICE to access taxpayer addresses in bulk.
- The system bypasses traditional legal review, raising concerns over privacy violations.
- Internal opposition led to resignations, but development continues under political pressure.
The Internal Revenue Service is moving forward with a new automated system that would give U.S. immigration authorities access to millions of confidential taxpayer addresses. A leaked blueprint reveals that the program aims to streamline Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) efforts to track down and deport noncitizens.
ICE, through this program, would be able to send bulk requests to the IRS, which would put together and return updated address information for verification of names. Software developers at IRS offices in Maryland and Texas are coding the system and plan to roll it out before the end of July.
According to officials familiar with the project, the system would abolish the case-by-case legal reviews that for years safeguarded privacy for American taxpayers. Instead, the system would facilitate near-instant searches of address records using nothing but names.
IRS Staff Quit Over Taxpayer Data Dispute
In June, IRS acting general counsel Andrew De Mello refused to certify a request from ICE for data from more than 7 million taxpayers. He blamed gaps in the law for the request and was skeptical of the claim that all targets were the subject of a criminal investigation. Days later, he was fired from his position.
Before De Mello resigned, Homeland Security and the IRS had already agreed on a memorandum outlining data-sharing guidelines. However, internal emails showed that the mass demand did not meet the terms of that agreement. In the past, the IRS shared such information only with proper documentation and for a limited number of individuals.
De Mello’s opposition generated some resignations from the IRS. Legal and information technology personnel quit their positions in protest, believing they would face liability if they improperly revealed taxpayer data. They contended that giving up bulk collections pushed legal limits and breached agency traditions.
Critics Warn IRS System Could Harm Immigrants
It could facilitate unprecedented-scale data transfers. It is dreaded by privacy monitors and IRS engineers that it could end up being defective, leading to improper address arrests. Due to the fact that the system starts off with names, not taxpayer identification numbers, false identification is a risk.
They claim that this action goes against a half-century of IRS doctrine exhorting all U.S. income earners, citizen or not, to come voluntarily to the table to pay taxes with promises of confidentiality. What concerns them now is that the same records are now being used to target and deport citizens from the country.
Reports also disclose a plan for expanding coverage of information relating to U.S. citizens during criminal investigations. Thus far, that expansion hasn’t materialized, but officials verify that negotiations are ongoing. So long as there are legal hurdles, the system remains a work-in-development for engineers. Upon functioning, the system could significantly change the way government agencies treat tax information, as well as interagency cooperation of law enforcement.
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