Immigration

Obama Judge Blocks ICE From Using IRS Data To Track Illegal Migrants

Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour

A federal judge on Thursday blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using taxpayer data to help track down illegal migrants.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, ordered the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to stop sharing home addresses with ICE, arguing the arrangement potentially violates taxpayer privacy rights, according to court documents. The ruling marks the latest setback in the Trump administration’s quest to use IRS data for its mass deportation campaign.

“In this instance, both the balance of the hardships and the public interest tilt heavily towards enjoining the implementation of the interagency data-sharing agreements,” Talwani wrote. “The implementation of agreements contrary to law erodes that foundation and undermines the public interest in a functioning tax system.”

“Second, there is significant hardship in the potential misidentification of noncitizens and citizens alike that could lead to wrongful arrests, detention and even removal,” the Obama judge continued. “Because the information sought was not for any specific criminal investigation, the data-sharing will necessarily include both the data of noncitizens subject to criminal prosecution and those who are not subject to criminal prosecution because of their deferred action status.”

IRS officials began negotiations on sharing data with the Department of Homeland Security in early 2025, according to court documents released at the time. The arrangement allowed ICE and other federal immigration authorities to ask the tax agency for personal details about illegal migrants, like their home addresses.

While federal law strictly protects confidential taxpayer information, there are carve-outs, the court documents stipulated. The IRS can share pertinent details with federal law enforcement officials under an exception that allows the tax agency to help in criminal investigations.

Talwani on Thursday cited the “chilling effect” the sharing agreement could have on tax filings by foreign nationals and the possibility of lawful migrants being victim to mistaken identity. The Obama judge blocked the government agencies from sharing this data until her court reviews the case more thoroughly, prohibiting deportation officers from mining information already handed over by the IRS.

The ruling makes Talwani the second federal judge to temporarily block the information-sharing agreement, with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, appointed to the bench in Washington by former President Bill Clinton, ruling in November that the agreement violated taxpayer confidentiality. The Trump administration is currently appealing the Kollar-Kotelly order.

President Donald Trump himself is suing the IRS and Treasury Department for roughly $10 billion over the unlawful disclosure of his tax information in 2019, with sons Donald Jr. and Eric and the Trump Organization having joined the suit. In January 2024, former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn was handed a five-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to leaking 15 years of the president’s tax records to ProPublica and the New York Times.