The Trump administration has conveyed a definitive message: the protection of illegal immigrants from enforcement actions will not be accepted. Former IRS Commissioner Billy Long has been dismissed from his role after he declined to fully comply with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) request to utilize taxpayer data to assist in locating tens of thousands of suspected illegal aliens.

The conflict escalated when DHS provided the IRS with a list of approximately 40,000 names believed to belong to individuals residing in the U.S. unlawfully. DHS requested that the IRS use confidential taxpayer information to confirm addresses. Alarmingly, the IRS verified fewer than 3% of the names — a shortcoming that Trump supporters interpret as obstructing a crucial immigration enforcement effort.