Data sharing and legal battlesFeb 5, 2026Boston, MA
Second federal judge blocks IRS-to-ICE address sharing
A Massachusetts federal judge temporarily stopped ICE from using taxpayer addresses it had received from the IRS. Another judge had already restricted new disclosures by the IRS; this order also barred ICE from inspecting, using or distributing data already received while the lawsuit continues.
Judge Indira Talwani stayed the IRS-ICE information-sharing arrangements and temporarily barred DHS and ICE from inspecting, using, copying, distributing or otherwise acting on taxpayer information obtained through them. The order remains preliminary: it preserves the situation while the court decides the lawsuit's merits.
A D.C. federal judge had already required the IRS to comply strictly with federal tax-privacy law before making any new disclosure. Talwani's Feb. 5 order went further on ICE's side of the exchange by covering information already received, including the records transferred on Aug. 7, 2025.
How we know: D. Mass. order read directly Oct. 3, 2026. The earlier D.D.C. injunction was also identified in the order, confirming that this was the second federal ruling to block part of the arrangement.
Source chain
- 01Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts v. Bessent, No. 1:25-cv-12822, Doc. 75 (D. Mass. Feb. 5, 2026)primarydocket 1:25-cv-12822document (PDF)
- 02Politico, Feb 5link being reconstructed