DC Court Allows IRS to Share Data With ICE

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can, for now, share data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that could make it easier to identify and deport people in the country illegally, Kevin Tampone reported for Syracuse.com.

The agreement was so controversial when it was created that the acting head of the IRS at the time resigned over the deal.

A data-sharing agreement between the agencies was signed last April.

The rights group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (CTU) and other nonprofits are suing the government over the arrangement.

The agreement allows ICE to submit the names and addresses of immigrants in the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records, according to the Associated Press (AP).

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the request filed by CTU and other advocacy groups after the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., denied their motion for a preliminary injunction in May, Max Rego reported for The Hill.

The ruling concerned only a request for a preliminary injunction that would have temporarily blocked the policy.

The court did not rule on the lawsuit as a whole.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the decision a “crucial victory,” according to the AP. The agreement was so controversial when it was created that the acting head of the IRS at the time resigned over the deal.