By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to share immigrants’ tax data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S., according to a document signed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The new data-sharing arrangement was signed on Monday in the form of a “memorandum of understanding” — found in federal court filings — and will allow ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records.

Treasury argues that the agreement will help carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders and is part of his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations, workplace raids, and the use of an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants.

Advocates, however, say the IRS-DHS information sharing agreement violates longstanding privacy laws and diminishes the privacy of all Americans.

The basis for the agreement is founded in “longstanding authorities granted by Congress, which serve to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans while streamlining the ability to pursue criminals,” said a Treasury official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to explain the agency’s thinking on the agreement.

The IRS had already been called upon once to help with immigration enforcement earlier this year.

Related Articles

Supreme Court allows Trump to deport Venezuelans under wartime law, but only after judges’ review

Immigration crackdowns disrupt the caregiving industry. Families pay the price

Texas county that swung to Trump grapples with immigration crackdown after bakery is targeted

Chief Justice Roberts pauses deadline for return of Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador

Immigration Status of a Duke Basketball Star From South Sudan Is Unclear

Noem in February sent a request to Bessent to borrow IRS Criminal Investigation workers to help with the immigration crackdown, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. It cites the IRS’ boost in funding, though the $80 billion infusion of funds the federal tax collection agency received under the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act has already been clawed back.

A collection of tax law experts for the NYU Tax Law Center wrote Monday that the IRS-DHS agreement “threatens to violate the rights that many more Americans have under longstanding laws that protect their tax information from wrongful disclosure or dissemination.”

“In fact, it is difficult to see how the IRS could release information to DHS while complying with taxpayer privacy statutes,” they said, “IRS officials who sign off on data sharing under these circumstances risk breaking the law, which could result in criminal and civil sanctions.”

The memo states that the IRS and ICE “will perform their duties in a manner that recognizes and enhances individuals’ right of privacy and will ensure their activities are consistent with laws, regulations, and good administrative practices.”

Representatives from DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A federal judge has dismissed a case filed by former Republican candidate for Minnesota governor Scott Jensen, who alleged that state investigations of his claims regarding COVID-19 were “politically motivated.”

The court granted the medical board’s motion to dismiss Jensen’s federal lawsuit without prejudice on March 31, based on lack of standing. This is the second time the court granted the medical board’s motion to dismiss this case without prejudice, meaning Jensen can file the charges again.

Jensen, a Minnesota family practice physician who unsuccessfully ran for governor against Democrat Tim Walz in 2022, filed the federal lawsuit in June 2023, claiming the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and abused its power when investigating his claims regarding COVID-19.

His lawsuit claims his views, which contradicted those in mainstream media, were “both critical and complimentary” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s actions.

In March 2024, the court first dismissed the case, claiming Jensen failed to sufficiently allege a concrete injury.

The first order to dismiss said Jensen’s claims that he was politically targeted and that the anonymous complaints had an “ongoing chilling and suppressing effect” did not establish standing for his argument. Jensen also claimed the board treated physicians with different views “more favorably,” but according to the court order, Jensen did not establish “standing for his viewpoint discrimination and equal protection claims.”

Jensen filed an amended complaint less than three weeks later; however, the court claimed this year that Jensen again failed to allege a concrete injury.

“Emotional distress alone is not a cognizable injury in fact that creates standing,” the court order dismissing the lawsuit said.

In a release to the Upper Midwest Law Center, Jensen said his lawsuit has never been about one person.

“It’s about all of us and our right to free speech,” he said in the release. “If it can happen to me, why couldn’t it happen to anyone?”

The UMLC responded to the court’s dismissal of Jensen’s lawsuit, noting that the center disagrees.

“Dr. Jensen will appeal, and he will win,” UMLC Senior Counsel James Dickey said in a release.

Dickey noted that Jensen had never been investigated by the medical board in his 40 years of medical practice and that Jensen was selected to be the 2016 Minnesota Family Practice Doctor of the Year.

“Suddenly, because he was willing to speak out and subsequently chose to run for governor, he was investigated by his licensing board — appointed by his opponent — five times,” Dickey said. “Anyone in his shoes would think twice about talking after that experience. He was obviously harmed by these frivolous speech investigations. The First Amendment stands in the way of that kind of weaponized government censorship.”

Related Articles

Push to release Sen. Nicole Mitchell arrest video gets new chance on appeal

St. Paul Mayor Carter appoints Matt Privratsky as interim council member

Rent control, budget, acrimony, attendance issues dog St. Paul City Council

Anti-Trump ‘Hands Off!’ rally draws thousands at Minnesota Capitol

As Northland events mount in response to Trump’s cuts, attendees ask: Where’s Stauber?

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson found himself in a familiar jam on Tuesday: Conservative Republican holdouts are stalling action on President Donald Trump’s “big” bill of tax breaks and spending reductions, refusing to accept a Senate GOP budget framework approved over the weekend because it doesn’t cut enough.

Trump summoned House Republicans to the White House for a midday meeting as the beleaguered speaker pulls out all the stops to nudge the process forward before lawmakers leave Thursday for a two-week spring recess.

With the financial markets roiling over Trump’s tariffs and the economy teetering as worries of a recession flare, the Republican speaker insisted there is no time to waste.

“We’ve got to get this done,” Johnson said after a spirited morning meeting of House Republicans.

The standoff between the House and the Senate over what Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill” is exposing the limits of the GOP’s long campaign to cut federal spending, especially at a time of economic unrest. Trump’s trade wars, the mass layoffs of thousands of federal workers and Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency slashing through government, are all upending the debate.

Republicans, in control of the White House and Congress, are trying to muscle Trump’s signature domestic policy bill closer to passage, ensuring some $4.5 trillion in tax breaks approved during his first term don’t expire at year’s end. But House Republicans are demanding as much as $2 trillion in budget cuts over the decade, to help offset the costs of the tax breaks, while Senate Republicans, who stayed up late to pass their package early Saturday morning, are hesitant to go that far.

Facing unified opposition to the package from Democrats, who see the GOP package as a tax giveaway to the wealthy paid for by reductions in Medicaid, food stamps and other vital government services, Republicans are struggling to resolve their differences and craft a final product.

“I’m tired of the fake math in the swamp,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a leader of the House Freedom Caucus.

“They are fine saying that there are unlimited tax cuts, but they are unwilling to say they will do spending cuts,” Roy said. “The Senate has produced a budget that is phony math, and I’m not going to support it.”

The uproar has thrown the week’s schedule into uncertainty, with a planned Wednesday vote potentially pushing to Thursday, or even later.

Trump weighed in late Monday on social media, urging swift action.

“There is no better time than now to get this Deal DONE!” the president posted on social media. “Everyone is going to be happy with the result. Passage will make, even the subject of World Trade, far easier and better for the U.S.A. THE HOUSE MUST PASS THIS BUDGET RESOLUTION, AND QUICKLY — MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

But Trump’s demands left the House conservatives unmoved.

Related Articles

Joe Rogan and Dave Portnoy are among the Trump backers now questioning his tariff policies

National Park Service restores original Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad webpage

As a future of US foreign aid cuts comes into focus, so do efforts to respond

The Trump administration withdrew 11 pieces of ADA guidance. How will it affect compliance?

Supreme Court blocks order requiring Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal workers

“The rest of America has to do math and balance their budget. I think we ought to do math here in Washington D.C.,” said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa. “It doesn’t take a calculus wiz to know that doesn’t add up.”

While Republican senators have agreed to consider as much as $2 trillion in cuts, their counterparts in the House are deeply skeptical, if not distrustful, that the Senate GOP will accomplish anywhere near that level of reductions. The Senate bill sets a much lower floor, just $4 billion in cuts, though Senate GOP leaders insist that number will rise.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said he does not believe the Senate has the political will to stomach larger cuts and is unconvinced the GOP senators will reach anywhere near the level the House has set.

“The trustworthiness of the Senate is suspect,” Norman said. “It’s like you charge for your house $100,000, And I come back with $1,000. How do you bridge that gulf?”

In fact, the Senate GOP signaled the tough road ahead for the House’s steep spending reductions during their lengthy overnight session.

Several Republicans including Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri voted with Democrats in favor of amendments to preserve the Medicaid health care program from cuts. None of the amendments was accepted, but one that specifically targeted the $800 billion in reductions from the House framework won GOP support.

During a morning meeting of House Republicans a number of lawmakers spoke out — some saying they should simply accept the Senate resolution for now and keep working out the details toward the final package. Others were refusing to go forward without assurances that senators were committed to the same level of reductions.

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

MN Black Authors Expo will be at the George Latimer public library, 90 W. Fourth St., St. Paul, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 12, with the theme “From the Page to the Stage: Bringing Black Books to Life!”

This free event includes a meet-and-greet with more than 20 writers and spoken-word artists; activities in the Kids’ Corner; a boot camp for established and emerging writers; a teen workshop; and a noon presentation featuring T. Mychael Rambo, author, vocalist, arts educator, artist and affiliate professor in the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Theatre Arts and Dance program.

This expo was started eight years ago by authors DeVonna Pittman and Jasmine Boudou to empower Black writers in all genres. Since then, it has become one of the largest gatherings of Black authors and book lovers in the Twin Cities.

For information go to mnblackauthorsexpo.com.

Related Articles

Book Review: ‘No More Tears’ scrutinizes the legacy of health giant Johnson & Johnson

34 new books in our spring 2025 preview to add to your TBR pile

Readers and writers: Haunting tale set in Lake Superior lighthouse is must-read

Literary calendar for week of April 6

Literary picks for week of April 6: ‘Great Gatsby’ readings