Undocumented Immigrants Pay Billions in Taxes — Now the IRS May Be Betraying Their Trust

Every year, millions of undocumented immigrants pay taxes in the United States. In fact, they paid around $96.7 billion in taxes in 2022 alone, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Even though they are not eligible for most government benefits, they still contribute to Social Security, Medicare, and other public programs.

Many of these immigrants file taxes using something called an ITIN — an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number — because they don’t have a Social Security number. For years, the IRS has promised to keep this information private, even from other government agencies.
​But that may be changing.











Millions File Taxes with ITINs, Trusting Their Information Will Stay Private
A new agreement between the IRS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would allow ICE to request tax information about people they are trying to deport or investigate. This is a big shift from how the IRS has worked in the past, and many people are calling it a betrayal.

Even some IRS officials are worried. The agency has always protected taxpayer privacy — it’s a key part of getting people to file honestly, even if they are undocumented. The concern now is that immigrants may stop paying taxes out of fear that their information will be used to find and deport them.

The deal has already caused controversy inside the IRS. Reports say that Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krause resigned over the issue, concerned that the agency is breaking the law by sharing protected information with ICE.

Critics of the deal say it could destroy trust in the tax system. If people think their tax information will be used against them, they may avoid filing altogether — which would hurt both immigrant communities and the country’s tax revenue.

​Right now, ICE has not yet received any information from the IRS. But immigrant rights groups and legal experts are closely watching what happens next.
This decision could have a lasting impact, not just on immigrants, but on how Americans view the safety and privacy of their own tax records.

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