NEW YORK, May 15, CMC- An immigration advocate has condemned a proposal by the Trump administration forcing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify the immigration status of Caribbean and other tax payers.
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, said that the proposed changes would directly affect undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants.
It said that these immigrants use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), a nine-digit number issued to people who are not eligible for a Social Security number but still file and pay taxes in the United States.
“Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe contributing to their economy and trust that paying taxes will not place them or their families at risk,” NYIC president and chief executive officer, Murad Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“The Trump administration’s latest effort to use the IRS to force the disclosure the immigration status of taxpayers is a dangerous attempt to weaponize the tax system,” he added, stating that the proposed changes would undermine the trust of public institutions and push hundreds of thousands of immigrant taxpayers further into the shadows.
Awawdeh said undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants in New York contribute US$6.7 billion in local, state, and federal taxes annually, while immigrants with status contribute US$74.8 billion.
“Instead of punishing people who fund our schools and comply with our tax laws, the federal government should be working to protect their rights and ensure that all communities can safely participate in our economy,” he said, calling on the Trump administration to stop targeting Caribbean and other immigrant communities.
Awawdeh also urged the United States Congress to uphold taxpayer privacy protections for everyone in the coutry.
Media reports said the proposed changes would distinguish codes for undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants from others with ITINs, requiring applicants for codes to clearly disclose their immigration status to the IRS.
Last year, an attempt by the Trump administration for the IRS to share the immigration status of tax payers with the administration, as part of its deportation agenda, was blocked by federal courts.
Several senior IRS officials also resigned over the program fearing violation of federal tax privacy law.
Meantime, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to deport even permanent residents through the institution of a new “revetting” unit.
Zach Kahler, a spokesperson for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), said the changes are in keeping with Trump’s immigration policy.
“USCIS’s first and foremost mission is to safeguard America by rigorously vetting and screening aliens. We will continue to implement changes as we identify opportunities to strengthen the US immigration system.”
In addition, USCIS says it has “partnered” with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in its recent filing of denaturalization actions in various US district courts against 12 immigrants accused of serious offenses—including providing material support to a terrorist group, committing war crimes, and sexually abusing a minor.
“Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized US citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation,” said USCIS in a statement.
CMC/nk/ir/2026