Armed IRS agents are in the news again. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has formally requested that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provide federal tax agents to assist with immigration enforcement efforts.
This request, detailed in a letter obtained by various news outlets, cites the recent expansion of the IRS workforce under the Biden administration and suggests some of those agents could be valuable assets in border security operations.
President Donald Trump publicly floated this idea at a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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"They hired or tried to hire, 88,000 workers to go after you. And we're in the process of developing a plan to either terminate all of them or maybe we'll move them to the border."
Trump added, "I think we're going to move them to the border. Where they're allowed to carry guns, you know, they're so strong on guns, but these people are allowed to carry guns, so we'll probably move them to the border."
So, what does all of this mean for you and your taxes? Read on.
Related: Check out Kiplinger's tax blog for the 2025 filing season. We're providing live updates, news, information, and commentary to help you navigate your taxes.
IRS agents going from tax audits to border patrol?
Secretary Noem's request specifically targets the approximately 2,200 agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation Unit (IRS-CI), a specialized division within the U.S. Treasury Department.
Unlike "regular" IRS employees and agents, IRS criminal investigation special agents are authorized to carry firearms in certain circumstances and often work on cases where arrests are sometimes warranted.
- Under the proposed plan, these IRS agents would investigate financial transactions associated with illegal immigration and potentially be able to arrest, detain, and transport people.
- One argument here is that their expertise in financial investigations could be helpful with issues related to human trafficking and the employment of undocumented workers (e.g., auditing employers, seizing properties, serving on task forces).
- This raises questions about training, jurisdiction, and the appropriate use of specialized federal resources.
The legal basis for this reportedly lies in Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That provision allows DHS to form partnerships with various law enforcement entities for immigration enforcement purposes. However, using IRS agents in that capacity would be unprecedented.
Critics express concern that redirecting IRS agents to the border could have unintended consequences, including lost federal tax revenue since those agents couldn’t focus on tax enforcement.
This is important since the IRS has touted recent successes in recovering billions in outstanding tax dollars.
For example:
- In fiscal year 2024, the IRS collected over $5.1 trillion in tax revenue and $98 billion in enforcement revenue.
- The IRS-CI division initiated 2,667 criminal investigations and obtained 1,571 convictions, maintaining a 90% conviction rate, according to the IRS.
- These efforts identified over $9.1 billion from tax and financial crimes, including tax fraud, money laundering, and cybercrimes.
Additionally, the proposal has reignited debate about immigration enforcement and border security. Some supporters argue it represents an innovative approach to a pressing national security issue, while some detractors see it as overreach.
87,000 IRS agents coming for your money?
It’s worth noting that the proposal to send IRS agents to the border is also seen by some to be at odds with the Republican Party's previous stance on IRS agents.
For years, GOP lawmakers used the idea of “armed IRS agents” to stoke fear among taxpayers. As Kiplinger reported, some often falsely claimed the IRS planned to hire 87,000 armed agents to harass middle-income earners.
That false narrative was particularly prevalent during debates surrounding the Inflation Reduction Act, which provided additional funding to the IRS (billions of dollars of which have since been clawed back by Congress).
So, now some find it ironic that the DHS Secretary may use those same agents for immigration enforcement. Additionally, staffing levels will be a concern since President Trump has put executive orders in place to freeze hiring at the IRS indefinitely and has offered federal buyouts (also known as deferred resignation) to millions of federal workers, including IRS staff.
Trump IRS changes bottom line
As the Trump administration moves forward with its immigration agenda, the potential redeployment of IRS agents to the border could be a contentious issue. The refocusing of those agents could take attention away from investigations of tax fraud, money laundering, and cybercrimes.
This is all happening at a time when the IRS is in flux. Trump’s pick for IRS Commissioner isn’t yet Senate-confirmed, there’s an indefinite hiring freeze applied to the tax agency, and tax season 2025 is in full swing while Congress debates trillions in potential tax cuts.
Of course, whether this proposal will move beyond the planning stages remains to be seen. But it has already sparked a conversation about the role of various federal agencies in enforcing immigration policies and if approved, could impact IRS tax enforcement, so stay tuned.
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