Federal Judge Blocks IRS From Releasing Tax Data to Assist in Deportations

A federal judge in Washington ruled the federal government likely violated the law in adopting the information-release policy.

The badge of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is embroidered on a polo shirt of an ICE employee, at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement two-day job fair in Arlington, Texas, on Aug. 26, 2025. Shelby Tauber/Reuters

A federal judge on Nov. 21 ordered the Internal Revenue Service not to share tax return information that immigration officials want to use for the deportation of illegal immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District of Columbia said the plaintiffs “have shown a substantial likelihood” that an inter-agency agreement allowing the sharing of the tax information is “unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act.”