Cortez Masto, Espaillat, Padilla Urge Appeals Court to Protect Taxpayer Privacy Against ICE and IRS Overreach

Senators, joined by Chairman of the House Congressional Hispanic Caucus Espaillat, submit amicus brief in Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts v. IRS

Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and U.S. Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.-10) submitted an amicusbrief in support of the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts in its suit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They are joined by eight Senators and 74 U.S. Representatives.

Last year, the IRS entered into an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), allowing ICE officers to ask the IRS for sensitive information about tax-paying undocumented immigrants. District Judge Indira Talwani blocked the agreement from continuing, citing violation of taxpayer privacy laws. The Trump Administration has appealed that decision, and Cortez Masto, Padilla, and Espaillat are urging the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to uphold her decision.

"The data sharing at issue in this case by the [IRS] and [ICE] violates the express terms of the statute and ignores its history," the lawmakers began. "Congress previously rejected legislative proposals to alter section 6103 and allow the use of return information for immigration enforcement purposes. Instead, Congress and the IRS for decades have done the opposite: promoting voluntary compliance by immigrant taxpayers by protecting their information to ensure tax revenues keep pace with economic activity."

"The data sharing here was illegal and threatens federal revenue, adversely affecting all taxpayers," they continued. "It would also compromise taxpayer privacy and raise the possibility of grave consequences for individuals misidentified by ICE, chill participation in the tax system, impact our constituents, and destroy public trust."

"The IRS's address sharing policy therefore violates the statute, improperly displaces Congress's legislative judgments, undermines the confidentiality of taxpayer information and taxpayer reliance, and threatens the national fisc," they concluded. "The district court's preliminary injunction preserves Congress's unambiguous command that taxpayer information remain confidential unless and until an agency lawfully satisfies the conditions set forth by Congress and longstanding IRS policy and we urge it be upheld."

The full text of the brief can be found here.

Senator Cortez Masto has repeatedly demanded answers from the Trump Administration on the IRS' cruel and illegal plans to share sensitive taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security. Earlier this year, she led a similar amicusbrief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

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