DATA IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The IRS issues Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to taxpayers who are ineligible for Social Security Numbers. These numbers allow taxpayers, regardless of immigration status, to comply with their federal tax obligations.
In previous years, ITIN holders have been assured that their data would not be shared, but in 2025, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security to use tax data for immigration enforcement. ICE has sought data on as many as 7 million taxpayers; so far, 47,000 taxpayers have had their information shared with ICE under the agreement. As of November 21, 2025, a federal court has issued a stay, proscribing further data sharing between IRS and ICE.
Data highlights:
Related documents and reporting:
IRS-ICE data sharing
- 11/21/2025: Judge halts IRS sharing of taxpayer info for immigration crackdown (POLITICO)
- 10/30/2025: How the IRS and ICE Tussled During Trump’s Deportation Push (WSJ)
- 8/7/2025: IRS-ICE Records Disclosure (Center for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS)
- 7/15/2025: The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE (ProPublica)
- 4/18/2025: IRS-ICE Implementation Agreement (Center for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS)
- 4/8/2025: Top I.R.S. Officials Said to Resign After Deal to Give ICE Migrants’ Data (NYT)
- 4/7/2025: IRS-DHS MOU (Center for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS)
- 3/22/2025: IRS Nears Deal to Share Data for Immigration Enforcement (WSJ)
IRS-CI immigration enforcement
- 12/11/2025: How the IRS’ crime-fighting force took on immigration and other issues in 2025 (AP News)
- 6/27/2025: IRS Has 250 Criminal Agents Assisting with Immigration Crackdown (Bloomberg Tax)
Analysis and commentary
- 9/3/2025: ICE Has Diverted Over 25,000 Officers from Their Jobs (Cato Institute)
- 8/15/2025: A $7 Billion Liability Risk Could Flow from Unlawful IRS-DHS Data Sharing (TLC)
- 4/21/2025: The New ICE-IRS Data Sharing Agreement Has Three Problems (TPC)
- 4/10/2025: Treasury-DHS Tax Data Sharing Agreement Raises Grave Legal and Practical Concerns (TLC)
- 4/8/2025: The Potential Impact of IRS-ICE Data Sharing on Tax Compliance (Yale Budget Lab)
- 2/26/2025: IRS Agents Are Best Used In Tax Enforcement, Not Immigration (TPC)
You can also download a spreadsheet with the full list of available data, including the range of years for which data is available.
The IRS Spotlight © 2025 by The Brookings Institution is licensed under CC BY 4.0