A federal appeals court unanimously upheld an injunction blocking a Trump administration policy that allowed the IRS to share taxpayer addresses with ICE. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the automated sharing of 47,289 records violated post-Watergate privacy laws under Section 6103. The court rejected government arguments that the policy was unreviewable, noting that ICE failed to provide specific justifications or individual points of contact for its 1.28 million requests.
IRS-ICE data sharing policy
- ▪The IRS-ICE data-sharing procedure allowed ICE to obtain taxpayer information by providing a five- or nine-digit number in the address field, even if it was not a valid ZIP code.
- ▪ICE requested the last known addresses of approximately 1.28 million people believed to be unlawfully present in the United States from the IRS in the summer of 2025.
- ▪Before a federal district court halted the program, the IRS transferred 47,289 taxpayer records to ICE under their 2025 data-sharing agreement.
- ▪Under an April 2025 memorandum of understanding, the IRS agreed to share taxpayer address data with ICE to assist in locating individuals suspected of being unlawfully present in the U.S.
Section 6103 privacy law violations
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled on September 8, 2026, that the IRS-ICE data-sharing policy violated Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code.
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found the IRS violated Section 6103 by failing to require ICE to provide a specific reason why the requested taxpayer information was relevant to a qualifying investigation.
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found the IRS violated Section 6103 by failing to ensure that ICE listed a federal employee personally and directly engaged in a qualifying investigation for each request.
- ▪ICE identified the same individual as the point of contact for all 1.28 million taxpayer information requests submitted to the IRS in the summer of 2025.
- ▪The IRS matched taxpayer identification numbers without verifying the taxpayer's name and address in more than 90% of the cases shared with ICE.
Appeals court injunction ruling
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel, consisting of three judges appointed by former President Barack Obama, rejected the government's argument that the plaintiff groups lacked standing to sue.
- ▪On September 8, 2026, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously upheld a lower court injunction blocking the IRS-ICE data-sharing policy.
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel rejected the government's objection to reporting new information requests, stating the IRS could file notices privately to protect ongoing investigations.
- ▪The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit panel ruled that the IRS-ICE data-sharing policy was a final agency action reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act.
Trump administration immigration enforcement
- ▪Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward, representing the plaintiffs, stated that post-Watergate privacy laws exist to prevent abuses of power like the IRS-ICE data-sharing policy.
- ▪The IRS-ICE data-sharing agreement was established in 2025 as part of the Trump administration's efforts to link government databases and expand immigration enforcement.
- ▪The legal challenge against the IRS-ICE data-sharing policy was led by advocacy groups including the Center for Taxpayer Rights and the Main Street Alliance.
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