Inspector General Says Taxpayer Records Were Not Consistently Matched as Federal Deportation Effort Expanded
WASHINGTON | IRS systems used to support immigration enforcement efforts failed to consistently and accurately match taxpayer records with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data, according to a new government watchdog report that raises questions about one of the most controversial information-sharing initiatives of the Trump administration's immigration agenda.
A report released Monday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that the Internal Revenue Service encountered significant shortcomings when attempting to identify taxpayer records requested by ICE as part of a broader federal effort to locate undocumented immigrants subject to deportation proceedings.
The findings represent the most comprehensive government review to date of the IRS-ICE data-sharing arrangement, which emerged as a key component of the administration's effort to strengthen immigration enforcement through interagency cooperation.
The agreement between the two agencies was designed to allow ICE access to certain taxpayer information, including Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) and last known addresses, for individuals identified in immigration enforcement actions. Federal officials sought the information as part of broader efforts to locate and remove undocumented immigrants residing in the United States.
Data Quality Problems Complicated Enforcement Efforts
Investigators found that inconsistencies in how ICE formatted and submitted information significantly hindered the IRS's ability to accurately process requests.
The report noted that differences in names, spelling variations, and inconsistent data formatting often prevented taxpayer records from being matched correctly across agency databases. As a result, legitimate records may have gone unmatched, while the IRS's screening processes failed to reject some submissions that did not meet established criteria.
