The Department of Homeland Security directed the Internal Revenue Service to turn over the addresses of roughly 700,000 immigrants it is seeking to deport. The request could violate taxpayer privacy laws.
IRS officials have denied the department's attempts to verify the addresses, according to a new report from The Miami Herald. Taxpayer information is typically tightly held at the IRS, with improper disclosure barred under federal law. IRS officials have told DHS officials that they need to follow rules governing taxpayer privacy.
Many immigrants living in the U.S. without legal permission file tax returns with the IRS, giving the agency information about where they live, their families, their employers and their earnings. The IRS gives immigrants without Social Security numbers a separate nine-digit code called an individual tax payer identification number to file their returns.
This isn't the first time that the Trump administration has tried to access taxpayer information in ways that officials at the tax agency have worried could violate federal law, according to The New York Times. The agency recently signed an agreement allowing a member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to view anonymized taxpayer data as part of a push to modernize the agency's software. The Musk team is leading an effort to shrink federal programs and the government's workforce.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security had previously tried to enlist IRS agents in its broad immigration crackdown, asking for agents to audit companies that might be hiring immigrants in the country without legal permission, according to a copy of a memo viewed by The New York Times.
The recent report is the latest indication that the Trump administration is willing to bend over backwards to carry out their mass deportation efforts.
Last week, the administration announced they would create a registry for all people who are in the U.S. unlawfully, and those who don't self-report could face fines or prosecution, The Associated Press reports.
Everyone in the U.S. unlawfully must register, give fingerprints and provide an address, according to a DHS statement released last week. It cited a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act as justification for the registration process, which would apply to anyone 14 and older.
"An alien's failure to register is a crime that could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both," the statement said. "For decades, this law has been ignored— not anymore."
It was not immediately clear how many people living in the country unlawfully would voluntarily come forward and give the federal government information about who they are and where they're living. But failure to register would be considered a crime, and the administration has said its initial target for deportation is people who've committed crime in the U.S.
Source: The Latin Times
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
