NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Internal Revenue Service improperly disclosed the confidential taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the agencies’ controversial agreement to share immigrant data to help identify those living in the country illegally, according to a new court filing.
The Treasury Department, the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security finalized a deal last spring to allow taxpayer data to be shared with immigration authorities to help them find illegal immigrants.
The agreement, which led to the resignations of top IRS officials, authorized Immigration and Customs Enforcement to submit names and addresses of illegal immigrants to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.
In a declaration filed Wednesday, IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer Dottie Romo said the IRS was able to verify roughly 47,000 of the 1.28 million names ICE requested that were then disclosed to the immigration enforcement agency.
SECOND FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS IRS FROM SHARING ADDRESSES WITH ICE
The Internal Revenue Service improperly disclosed the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security. (Getty Images)
The IRS gave ICE additional address information for under 5% of those names, potentially violating privacy rules created to protect taxpayer data.
The tax-collecting agency said it recently discovered the mistake and is working with other federal agencies to resolve the matter.
Romo said the Treasury notified DHS last month of the error and asked for its assistance in “promptly taking steps to remediate the matter consistent with federal law,” which includes “appropriate disposal of any data provided to ICE by IRS based on incomplete or insufficient address information.”
MINNESOTA SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER SWEEPING IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN TWIN CITIES
The Treasury Department, the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security finalized a deal last spring to allow…
