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(CMC) — Immigration advocates have condemned an agreement between the United States (US) Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share sensitive information on undocumented Caribbean and other taxpayers with removal orders.
The move has already led to the resignation of Melanie Krause, the acting IRS commissioner, indicating that taxpayer information is among the most closely guarded data in the federal government.
“The IRS is mandated to guard tax information within its agencies, and, over the years, it has consistently assured undocumented taxpayers that their information is confidential and that it is safe for them to file tax returns,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and chief executive officer of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC).
“The IRS’s decision to share confidential information with the Department of Homeland Security threatens the safety of thousands of workers while forcing them further into the shadows, and discourages tax compliance,” Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
He said undocumented Caribbean nationals and others in New York contribute US$6.7 billion in local, state and federal taxes annually, while immigrants with status contribute US$74.8 billion.
“These dollars help fund our schools, maintain our infrastructure and provide vital public resources that all New Yorkers depend on. The IRS sharing this information with DHS will have a devastating effect on our economy and lead to increased surveillance of immigrant communities.
“Instead of punishing people who contribute and comply with our tax laws, our government should be working to protect their rights and build trust. The federal government should be expanding pathways to legal status, not punishing people who are doing everything they can to contribute to our economy,” he said.
“We call on the federal government to stop targeting immigrant communities and Congress to exercise its oversight authority, demand clarification on the status of this implementation agreement and uphold taxpayer privacy protections for every person in the US,” Awawdeh said.
The IRS and DHS agreement comes as President Donald Trump intensifies the deportation of Caribbean and other immigrants.
Under the agreement, agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency can ask the IRS for information about Caribbean and other immigrants who have final orders of removal or are under criminal investigation.
Last month, several congressional Democrats dispatched a joint letter to DHS Secretary Noem and the head of the IRS urging them not to pursue the agreement.
“If immigrants fear that filing taxes could expose them to deportation, many will choose not to file, reducing federal revenues that contribute to funding public schools, health care and disaster relief for Americans while shifting resources to the informal economy,” they wrote.
But a Department of the Treasury spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday, “The bases for this MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) are founded in longstanding authorities granted by Congress, which serve to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans while streamlining the ability to pursue criminals.”
However, Nandan Joshi, a lawyer with Public Citizen which represents immigrant advocacy groups, said “The IRS has gone back on its duty to protect taxpayer information from improper disclosure.”
“If allowed to stand, this agreement will provide a roadmap for federal law enforcement to gain access to confidential taxpayer information without obtaining court order as required by law,” he said.
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More american hypocrisy. When the Trump was being investigated in New York, the prosecutors wanted to see his tax returns, he refused. The matter went all the way to the Supreme Court and the court ruled the IRS can release Trump’ s tax returns to the New York prosecutors. Trump was a tax payer was his information protected?
He was a taxpayer? Really? You remember ‘The Art of the Deal’? You remember his boast about how he used and manipulated the system to pay little to no tax at all on all his properties?