The Department of Homeland Security sent an inquiry to the IRS for taxpayer information regarding 1.2 million people.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 92%
The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
Multiple reports, including Reuters citing the Washington Post and an AP story on a Treasury inspector general report, state that DHS requested addresses for 1.2 million individuals from the IRS, so the claim's core assertion is supported. The claim tracks the post's wording faithfully, and the IRS ultimately provided data on about 47,000 people, which the claim does not address.
What was said
… and and it set up a procedure where, if you if you were pursuing a criminal investigation, you could send the appropriate official could send that individual's name, his address, and a specific statement of reasons, and get IRS information about that person. So the DHS would like to know the last known addresses of essentially every undocumented person in the United States. So they they sent an inquiry for 1.2 million people. Uh uhm, and they didn't really fill in the part about address. Uhm, they just they worked out a memo of understanding with the IRS and said that as long as you put in between five and nine digits, like sort of like a ZIP code, didn't remember, it didn't …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports that before the agreement was struck down, DHS requested the addresses of 1.2 million individuals from the IRS.[1]
Supports. An AP report on the Treasury inspector general (TIGTA) findings states that ICE requested address information on more than 1.2 million people under the 2025 data-sharing agreement.[2][3]
Supports. Accounting Today and The Independent both report that DHS requested information on 1.2 million people before federal courts blocked the arrangement.[4][5]
Context. The IRS responded with data on about 47,000 people, which shows the scope of what was actually provided rather than what was requested.[1][3]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 3 not rated
- 1IRS improperly disclosed confidential immigrant tax data to ...reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Watchdog report flags security risks in the IRS-ICE data ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 3Report: ICE-IRS shared data led to inconsistenciesarkansasonline.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4IRS improperly shared taxpayer data with DHSaccountingtoday.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5IRS 'mistakenly' shared confidential migrant info with DHS, report saysthe-independent.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
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- The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court decision ruling that the IRS's decision to share taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security violates the law.True
- The government sent an inquiry for 1.2 million people to obtain their last known addresses.True
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