Representative Lou Correa (CA-46) has joined an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its decision to share taxpayers’ IRS information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The brief was filed on April 30 and aims to challenge what Correa describes as an overreach by the federal government that compromises taxpayer privacy.

In a statement, Correa emphasized the importance of maintaining confidentiality around tax information. “This amicus brief outlines and opposes the Administration’s overreach and asks that it keeps the tax information we file with the IRS private and secure, as required under existing federal law,” he said. He highlighted that it is Congress, not federal agencies, that establishes privacy laws. The complaint alleges that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is unlawfully violating Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) by pursuing expansive data requests.

The amicus brief raises serious concerns about the implications of using taxpayer information in support of the Administration’s mass detention and deportation initiatives. Correa noted, “Our hardworking immigrants followed the laws and paid taxes using IRS-issued ITINs,” expressing that these individuals trusted the federal system to protect their information from being used for immigration enforcement. “Upholding that practice protects the integrity of the entire U.S. tax system and ensures the continued payment of billions of tax dollars that these individuals contribute every year,” he added.

The brief warns that the DHS’s current actions could turn the IRS into a surveillance agency, a practice Congress deliberately outlawed fifty years ago in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal when the Nixon Administration misused tax information for political purposes.

Correa, alongside other concerned members of Congress, is urging the federal courts to enforce the vital privacy provisions of the IRC, reinforcing decades of legislative history and IRS practice. He cautioned that violating this law threatens the fundamental protections that Section 6103 was designed to ensure for all taxpayers, regardless of their legal status.

You can read the full amicus brief HERE.