Federal Judge Halts IRS–DHS Address Sharing After IRS Admits Improper Disclosure of Immigrant Taxpayer Data
A federal judge has halted the IRS–DHS address‑sharing arrangement after the IRS acknowledged it improperly disclosed confidential taxpayer information of immigrants. In a court filing the IRS says ICE submitted about 1.28 million names, IRS matched roughly 47,000 to tax records and provided additional address information for under 5% of those matches; Treasury notified DHS in January and asked DHS to remediate and dispose of any improperly shared IRS‑derived data. Advocacy groups say the episode confirms longstanding fears that opening tax data to immigration enforcement is unsafe, unlawful and prone to harmful errors.
📌 Key Facts
- IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo’s court declaration says ICE submitted about 1.28 million names to the IRS under the April 2025 IRS–DHS data‑sharing agreement, and the IRS was able to verify roughly 47,000 of those names against tax records.
- For under 5% of those roughly 47,000 matches, the IRS provided ICE with additional address information — disclosures Treasury now concedes may have violated taxpayer‑privacy rules and constituted improper sharing of confidential tax data of 'thousands' of individuals, including beyond what DHS specifically requested.
- Treasury notified DHS in January that some of the provided data were based on incomplete or insufficient address information and asked DHS to promptly remediate, including appropriately disposing of any improperly shared IRS‑derived data.
- Reporting indicates the data‑sharing began in August (amid heavy Trump‑era deportation pressure) and that the privacy breach was only 'recently discovered' inside the IRS.
- A November court ruling blocked the IRS–DHS arrangement, finding that it violated taxpayer rights.
- Advocacy groups — including Public Citizen and the Center for Democracy & Technology (and advocates such as Tom Bowman) — say the incident confirms that opening tax data to immigration enforcement is unsafe, unlawful, inherently error‑prone, harms innocent people, and undermines long‑standing IRS 'firewalls' meant to prevent such disclosures.
📰 Source Timeline (5)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
February 12, 2026
6:27 PM
Data of thousands of taxpayers wrongly shared with DHS, court filing says
New information:
- Court declaration by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo states ICE submitted about 1.28 million names to the IRS under the data‑sharing agreement.
- The IRS could verify roughly 47,000 of those names and, for less than 5% of that subset, provided ICE with additional address information it now concedes may have violated taxpayer‑privacy rules.
- Treasury informed DHS in January of the erroneous disclosures and asked DHS to remediate, including disposing of any data shared on the basis of incomplete or insufficient address information.
- Advocacy groups Public Citizen and the Center for Democracy & Technology publicly argue the improper sharing is unsafe, unlawful and precisely what long‑standing IRS 'firewalls' were designed to prevent.
5:04 PM
IRS reportedly disclosed confidential tax data to the Dept. of Homeland Security
New information:
- Confirms via IRS court filing that the agency improperly shared confidential tax information of 'thousands' of individuals with DHS, beyond those DHS specifically requested.
- Details the sequence: DHS sought 1.2 million addresses; IRS provided data on 47,000 individuals before a November court ruling blocked the arrangement as violating taxpayer rights.
- Reveals that the privacy breach was only 'recently discovered' inside IRS despite the data‑sharing starting in August under heavy Trump‑era deportation pressure.
3:10 AM
IRS erroneously shared confidential immigrant taxpayer data with DHS: court filing
New information:
- IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo’s declaration states ICE submitted about 1.28 million names to IRS for cross‑checks under the data‑sharing deal.
- IRS was able to match roughly 47,000 of those names to tax records and then provided ICE with additional address information for under 5% of those 47,000, potentially violating taxpayer‑privacy rules.
- Treasury notified DHS last month of the improper disclosures and asked DHS to help remediate by disposing of any data provided on the basis of incomplete or insufficient address information.
- Advocates like Tom Bowman of the Center for Democracy & Technology are publicly warning that once tax data is opened to immigration enforcement, 'mistakes are inevitable' and can harm innocent people.
February 11, 2026
11:26 PM
A privacy breach at the IRS: Taxpayer data wrongly shared with DHS, court filing says
New information:
- IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo’s court declaration states that the IRS received 1.28 million names from ICE under the April 2025 IRS–DHS agreement and could verify only about 47,000 against tax records.
- For less than 5% of those 47,000 individuals, IRS provided ICE with additional address information, a disclosure Treasury now concedes may have violated taxpayer privacy rules.
- Treasury notified DHS in January that some data were provided based on incomplete or insufficient address information and asked DHS to promptly remediate, including appropriate disposal of any improperly shared IRS‑derived data.
- Advocates from Public Citizen and the Center for Democracy & Technology are now explicitly framing the incident as confirmation of their concerns that opening tax data to immigration enforcement is unsafe, unlawful and inevitably prone to errors that harm innocents.
February 06, 2026