On Tuesday March 11, community leaders and advocates gathered at the office of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos to announce a lawsuit aimed at preventing the Trump administration from weaponizing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data against immigrant taxpayers. The legal action, filed by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (CTU) and Immigrant Solidarity DuPage (ISD), represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Alan Morrison, and Raise the Floor Alliance, targets Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the Internal Revenue Service, and Acting IRS Commissioner Melanie Krauss after the the Department of Homeland Security asked the IRS to turn over the addresses of roughly 700,000 undocumented immigrants identified for deportation.
The Trump administration's attempt to use IRS records for mass deportations marks a new chapter in its anti-immigrant agenda. After facing setbacks in executing mass deportation plans, the administration is now exploring illegal tactics, trying to breach taxpayer privacy protections that have been in place for decades.
IRS officials have so far denied the department’s attempts to verify the addresses, but the request is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to enlist the tax collector in its plans for mass deportations.
Kevin H., Legal Director at Raise the Floor Alliance, clarified the intent behind the legal action, “We have requested assurances from the government that they will stop their attempt to invade the IRS while the case plays out in court, but if they can’t give that to us, we will seek emergency judicial intervention.”
In 2022, immigrants paid $25.7 billion in Social Security taxes, $6.4 billion in Medicare taxes, and $1.8 billion in unemployment insurance. This vital economic contribution highlights the hypocrisy of targeting communities who uphold their tax obligations despite having no access to many of the benefits their taxes support. Independent of legal status, immigrants have the ability to obtain an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in order to file and pay taxes.
Ana G., Executive Director of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, spoke passionately about the harm caused by the administration’s actions: “President Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda is set up to break down communities, create fear and division, and threatens the liberties of all residents who are contributing to this nation's economy by filling their taxes with ITIN numbers. Our members contribute to this community and to the government, just like all workers, and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, not targeted for political agendas.”
Cristobal C. from ISD highlighted the economic contributions of immigrants. “Immigrants contribute billions of dollars to this nation’s economy, and penalizing those who comply with tax obligations is not only unethical and racist but economically senseless.
Cristobal further warned that the Trump administration’s attempts to target immigrant taxpayers could destroy public trust in the tax system and further marginalized communities facing significant barriers. “The weaponizing of taxes, " adds Cristobal, “clearing the path for big brother mass surveillance, is an attack on our community’s safety and stability, and it has dangerous consequences for all of us under a government attacking free speech.”
“This lawsuit is part of a broader fight to protect the privacy of all taxpayers and ensure that government agencies are not weaponized against immigrant communities,” Cristobal concluded. “Through this lawsuit, we are standing up for immigrant workers in Illinois and across the country.”
Allowing the IRS to share confidential taxpayer information with immigration enforcement authorities sets a dangerous precedent that could erode privacy protections for all taxpayers. If these protections are breached, it could pave the way for further government overreach and surveillance affecting every taxpayer.
This legal battle is just beginning, but the message from CTU, ISD, and Raise the Floor Alliance was clear: immigrant workers contribute to this country’s economic health and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect—not weaponized for political gain.
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