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.

What we found

Supports. Reuters reports that a three-judge D.C. Circuit panel upheld an injunction against the IRS policy and said the Trump administration's practice of sharing roughly 47,000 taxpayer addresses with ICE violated federal law.[1]

Supports. The court's opinion, as published, affirms the district court's preliminary injunction and states that the IRS's Data-Exchange Procedure failed to meet the statutory requirements for disclosure.[5][6]

Supports. The House Congressional Hispanic Caucus press release says the court unanimously upheld the lower court's order and found the data-sharing scheme 'indisputably contravenes' federal privacy law.[3]

Supports. FedScoop reports that the appeals court upheld the order blocking the IRS from disclosing taxpayer data to DHS's ICE component and found the agreement contravenes the tax code's requirements.[7]

Context. Earlier, in February 2026, the same court declined to block IRS-ICE data sharing in a separate challenge brought by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, affirming denial of a preliminary injunction. That ruling concerned a different procedural posture and predates the September decision the claim describes.[2][4][8]

Sources

8 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 primary, 4 not rated

1. 1IRS under Trump unlawfully shared taxpayer info with immigration authorities, court rulesreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
2. 2Court says the IRS can share immigrants' taxpayer data with ICEapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
3. 3D.C. Circuit Sides with CHC and 115 Members of Congress to ...chc.house.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
4. 4Updates on Litigation over the IRS-ICE Information-Sharing Agreementcongress.gov · primary source · cited for: context
5. 5Center for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS, 26-5006 (D.C. Cir. 2026)supreme.justia.com · not rated · cited for: supports
6. 6United States Court of Appealscourthousenews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
7. 7Appeals court keeps block on IRS from sharing taxpayer data with ICEfedscoop.com · not rated · cited for: supports
8. 8www.washingtonexaminer.com › policy › immigrationDC Circuit upholds IRS data sharing with DHS for immigration ...washingtonexaminer.com · not rated · cited for: context

Where this claim was made

Said in 1 published post

• The Lawfare Podcast · Sep 14, 2026“the DC. Circuit, however, has upheld a district court decision uh saying uh that the IRS's decision to share taxpayer information with DHS violates the law.”Post →

Related claims

• The D.C. Circuit appellate court denied an appeal to allow the Social Security Administration to continue using the SAVE database for eligibility verification.True
• The Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Homeland Security is allowed to use confidential data from the Social Security Administration based on Section 1373 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.True
• The Department of Homeland Security sent an inquiry to the IRS for taxpayer information regarding 1.2 million people.True
• The DC Circuit ruled two-to-one against the government's request for a stay in the SAVE system case.True
• A federal judge in D.C. found in June that the SAVE system violated federal privacy laws and that the Department of Homeland Security had overstepped its authority.True