Trump Imperiled Tens of Billions of Tax Dollars Per Year For No Gain by Betraying Immigrants

By forcing the IRS to hand over information on suspected undocumented immigrants, it's unlikely those immigrants will continue paying taxes in the future.

Our Analysis

Undocumented immigrants are estimated to pay nearly $60 billion a year in federal taxes despite being unable to receive most types of benefits.

It has long been the policy of the United States that the IRS keep taxpayer data safe, which encourages people to pay taxes they wouldn't otherwise.

Taking this guardrail away means that it is unlikely undocumented immigrants – even those who remain – will be far less likely to pay taxes, resulting in a financial loss for the United States.

Sources

	DHS asks IRS for addresses of people believed to be in U.S. illegally
	IRS reaches data-sharing deal with DHS to help find undocumented immigrants for deportation

Both sides aren't the same:

What the "other side" did

Democrats have long championed protecting taxpayer privacy, including going after Big Tech companies that improperly used or distributed taxpayer data.

Democrats are also strongly in opposition to Trump's unprecedented use of taxpayer data to go after immigrants, even introducing the Taxpayer Data Protection Act to try to stop him.

Sources

	Democrats say ‘potentially illegal’ taxpayer data breach warrants DOJ investigation