Federal Appeals Court Permits Continued IRS-ICE Data Sharing on Immigrant Tax Records
A Washington, D.C., federal appeals court has decisively rejected a request from immigrant rights groups to temporarily halt the Internal Revenue Service from sharing specific taxpayer data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This ruling, delivered on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, allows the controversial data-sharing agreement to proceed, facilitating efforts to identify and potentially deport individuals residing illegally in the United States.
Court Rejects Preliminary Injunction Request
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to issue a preliminary injunction sought by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos and other nonprofit organizations. These groups are currently suing the federal government over the agreement, which was formally signed in April of the previous year by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Judge Harry T. Edwards, in the court's opinion, stated that the nonprofit groups "are unlikely to succeed on the merits of their claim," arguing that the information being exchanged falls outside the protections of the IRS privacy statute. This legal reasoning underscores the administration's position that the data-sharing is permissible under current law.
Administration Hails Decision as a Victory
Attorney General Pam Bondi swiftly celebrated the court's decision on social media, labeling it a "crucial victory" for the administration. "Deporting illegal aliens makes the American people safer," Bondi asserted in her post, echoing the Trump administration's longstanding immigration enforcement priorities.
The Trump administration has consistently defended the agreement as a vital component of President Donald Trump's broader agenda to secure U.S. borders and implement a nationwide immigration crackdown. This policy has already led to increased deportations and workplace raids, with the data-sharing pact intended to enhance these enforcement actions by cross-verifying immigrant names and addresses against IRS tax records.
Controversy and Operational Errors Surround the Agreement
The data-sharing agreement has been mired in controversy since its inception, prompting the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to resign last year in protest over the deal. Further complicating matters, recent court filings revealed that the IRS erroneously shared taxpayer information for thousands of individuals with the Department of Homeland Security as part of this arrangement.
A declaration by IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo disclosed that the IRS was only able to verify approximately 47,000 of the 1.28 million names submitted by ICE for cross-checking. Alarmingly, for less than 5% of those individuals, the IRS provided ICE with additional address information, a move that may have breached privacy rules designed to safeguard taxpayer data.
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the court's ruling. The case continues to unfold, with the nonprofit groups pursuing their legal challenge despite this setback.
