IRS Erroneously Shared Taxpayer Data with DHS, Court Filing Reveals

Thousands of taxpayer records were improperly shared as part of an agreement to identify and deport undocumented immigrants.

Published on Feb. 12, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

According to a new court filing, the IRS erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of an agreement to share data on immigrants in the U.S. illegally. The IRS was only able to verify about 47,000 of the 1.28 million names submitted by ICE, but still provided additional address information for less than 5% of those individuals, potentially violating taxpayer privacy rules.

Why it matters

The improper sharing of taxpayer data raises serious privacy concerns and could be used to target innocent Americans. Advocacy groups have already filed lawsuits against the government over the controversial data-sharing agreement between the IRS and DHS.

The details

The data-sharing agreement was signed last April by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, allowing ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants in the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records. However, the IRS was only able to verify about 47,000 of the 1.28 million names provided by ICE, and still shared additional address information for less than 5% of those individuals.

  • The data-sharing agreement was signed in April 2025.
  • The IRS notified DHS of the error in January 2026.
  • A Massachusetts federal court ordered the IRS to stop sharing residential addresses with ICE in 2025.
  • A federal court blocked the IRS from sharing information with DHS in November 2025, saying the IRS illegally disseminated tax data of some migrants the previous summer.

The players

Scott Bessent

Treasury Secretary who signed the data-sharing agreement with DHS.

Kristi Noem

Homeland Security Secretary who signed the data-sharing agreement with the IRS.

Dottie Romo

IRS Chief Risk and Control Officer who filed the declaration about the erroneous data sharing.

Public Citizen

Advocacy group that filed a lawsuit against the Treasury secretary, the Homeland Security secretary and their respective agencies over the data-sharing agreement.

Center for Democracy & Technology

Policy organization that criticized the improper sharing of taxpayer data as "unsafe, unlawful, and subject to serious criminal penalties."

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“This breach of confidential information was part of the reason we filed our lawsuit in the first place. Sharing this private taxpayer data creates chaos and, as we've seen this past year, if federal agents use this private information to track down individuals, it can endanger lives.”

— Lisa Gilbert, Co-president of Public Citizen (The Washington Post)

“The improper sharing of taxpayer data is unsafe, unlawful, and subject to serious criminal penalties. Once taxpayer data is opened to immigration enforcement, mistakes are inevitable and the consequences fall on innocent people.”

— Tom Bowman, Policy counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology (The Associated Press)

What’s next

The judge in the case will decide on Tuesday whether to allow the IRS to continue sharing taxpayer data with DHS.

The takeaway

This incident highlights the serious privacy concerns and potential for abuse when sensitive taxpayer data is shared with immigration enforcement agencies, even inadvertently. It underscores the importance of strong legal safeguards to protect confidential information and the need for greater oversight of data-sharing agreements between government entities.