ICE Appears to Be Buying Immigrants' Tax Identifiers from a Data Broker
3 hours ago
- #immigration enforcement
- #data privacy
- #tax policy
- ICE has a contract with Thundercut Technology LLC worth nearly $10 million for 'ITIN data subscription and analytics'.
- Senator Ron Wyden alleges this contract may skirt a court order banning ICE from obtaining ITINs directly from the IRS.
- ITINs are used by undocumented immigrants to file taxes, and ICE has pursued such data under the guise of 'fraud' investigations.
- ICE has reassigned thousands of HSI agents from other duties to immigration enforcement as part of a mass deportation campaign.
- ICE and DHS frequently purchase data from brokers instead of using warrants, exploiting a 'data broker loophole'.
- Past agreements for the IRS to share ITIN data with ICE were blocked by courts as unlawful or risky.
- CFPB rules to close the data broker loophole were halted by the Trump administration, per Wyden.