Kostelanetz LLP filed an amicus brief in support of the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Leadership in Center for Taxpayer Rights v. IRS in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the IRS’s sharing taxpayer information with ICE for immigration enforcement.
Counsel Andy Weiner and Robert McLeod filed the amicus brief, assisted by Lasya Ravulapati, ahead of the court’s scheduled hearing on September 5, 2025, on the Center’s motion for a stay or preliminary injunction.
As the brief explains, under §6103 of the Internal Revenue Code, taxpayers regardless of immigration status have a right to privacy with respect to how their tax return information is used with few, very specific exceptions. Congress has rejected proposed changes to §6103 for immigration enforcement purposes and, to the contrary, encouraged immigrants to satisfy their tax obligations without fear that their information would be used against them, for example, by creating Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers for taxpayers who do not have Social Security Numbers. Immigrants pay billions to the U.S. Treasury every years as a result.
However, the bulk sharing of information between the IRS and ICE outlined by the memorandum of understanding (MOU) violates the explicit language of the statute. It is also unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). On September 9, 2025, the district court entered an order that the MOU likely constitutes a final agency action subject to the APA and ordering the IRS to provide additional information bearing on the reasons for the MOU.
You can read the amicus brief here.
About Andy
Andy focuses his practice on tax controversies, both civil and criminal, at all stages of the administrative and judicial process. A former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, he has argued approximately 50 tax cases in the U.S. courts of appeals. He is a Forbes contributing columnist on tax controversy and tax policy and a frequent writer and speaker on tax issues. He is also a fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.
About Robert
Robert focuses his practice on white-collar criminal defense and tax controversy. He joined Kostelanetz after earning his J.D. in 2023 from the University of Virginia School of Law. As a member of the University of Virginia’s prosecution clinic, Robert spent his third year of law school as a supervised prosecutor for the Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
About Lasya
Lasya is a second-year pre-law paralegal at Kostelanetz LLP. She received her B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management with minors in English and Law & Society from Cornell University in December of 2023. Sparked by her coursework at Cornell, she continues to grow an interest in the study of immigration law and policy in the United States.
