Trump admin dealt new legal blow as judge blocks IRS sharing data with ICE
The Trump administration has been handed a legal setback as a federal judge ruled on Thursday that the IRS cannot share data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid its efforts to facilitate migrant deportations.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said the sharing of personal information posed potential violations of taxpayer privacy rights and raised risks of wrongful arrests due to misidentification, ordering a halt while the court reviews the case.
Newsweek reached out to a legal analyst via email for comment.
Why It Matters
The decision followed a November injunction by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., who found IRS address disclosures to ICE likely “unlawful” under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).
What To Know
Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, temporarily barred IRS disclosures to ICE and also blocked ICE from using the address data that the IRS had already provided.
“Defendants DHS [Department of Homeland Security], Secretary [Kristi] Noem, ICE, Acting Director [Todd] Lyons, and their agents, are enjoined from inspecting, viewing, using, copying, distributing, relying on, or otherwise acting upon any return information that had been obtained from or disclosed by the IRS Defendants pursuant to the information sharing arrangements, including the information received August 7, 2025,” Talwani says on the order.
The order comes after the two deadly shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents during immigration enforcement activities in Minneapolis. The shootings sparked calls for DHS Secretary Noem’s impeachment or firing from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
What People Are Saying
Noem, on X Sunday: “The Department of Homeland Security is focused on enforcing the law and keeping America safe. That’s our mission. We are deporting criminal illegal aliens across the country, improving the most secure border in American history and keeping the American people safe and secure from terror threats and natural disasters.”
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, on X Thursday: “If Republicans think the status quo with ICE is OK, they should back it up and say so to the American people. They will soon find out that the vast majority of Americans do not support the kind of abuses ICE is committing with impunity across our communities. Their behavior is simply not law enforcement—it’s thuggery.”
Trump, on Truth Social last month: “The Radical Left Lunatics, Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Thugs, are going after Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, because she is a woman, and has done a really GREAT JOB! The Border disaster that I inherited is fixed, the violent criminals that were allowed into our Country through Sleepy Joe’s ‘sick’ Open Border Policy, are largely gone, or being strongly sought for purposes of removal, and the Murder Rate in the USA just reached the lowest level in history, 125 years!
“Washington, D.C., is now one of the safest cities in America – Likewise, numerous other once very dangerous cities! Republicans, don’t let these Crooked Democrats, who are stealing Billions of Dollars from Minnesota, and other Cities and States from all over the Country, push you around. They are using this aggressive protest SCAM to obfuscate, camouflage, and hide their CRIMINAL ACTS of theft and insurrection. They should all be in jail. I was elected on Strong Borders, and Law and Order, among many other things. Thank you to Secretary Kristi Noem. Remember, ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP”
What Happens Next
ICE said it had not used the IRS data to deport people, according to Politico.
