The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reportedly nearing an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to confirm the identities of those believed to be in the country illegally.
According to The Washington Post, there have been “weeks of negotiations” between the two agencies.
Under the reported agreement, ICE would “submit names and addresses of suspected undocumented immigrants to the IRS to cross-reference with confidential taxpayer databases,” the outlet said, citing information provided by four people familiar with the matter.
The proposed agreement has “alarmed” IRS officials, the sources said, explaining that the agreement “risks abusing a narrow and seldom-used section of privacy law that’s meant to help investigators build criminal cases, not enforce criminal penalties.”
The draft agreement obtained by The Washington Post limits the tax information to the addresses of immigrants with final removal orders. Data verification is for those “subject to criminal investigation,” the report noted. Requests for the information would be submitted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem or Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
According to the IRS website, illegal immigrants are “subject to U.S. taxes in spite of their illegal status” and file with individual taxpayer numbers.
“U.S. employers or payers who hire illegal aliens (undocumented aliens) may be subject to various fines, penalties, and sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,” the website says. “If such employers or payers choose to hire illegal aliens (undocumented aliens), the payments made to those aliens are subject to the same tax withholding and reporting obligations that apply to other classes of aliens.”
