Judge issues order blocking IRS from sharing taxpayer information with ICE

A federal judge in Washington on Friday issued an order blocking the IRS from sharing taxpayer information with U.S.

A federal judge in Washington on Friday issued an order blocking the IRS from sharing taxpayer information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, finding the practice is "unlawful."

The court "concludes that the Plaintiffs have shown a substantial likelihood that the IRS’s adoption of the Address-Sharing Policy and the IRS’s subsequent sharing of taxpayer information with ICE were unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a 94-page ruling.

"Furthermore, Plaintiffs have shown that the IRS’s disclosure of confidential taxpayer address information to ICE was contrary to law because it violated several provisions of Internal Revenue Code," the judge wrote.

The order indicated that the IRS disclosed in early August information about nearly 47,000 taxpayers.

The Treasury Department and IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.