Particle.news
Download on the App Store
8 ARTICLES
·
5d ago

Democrats Urge 19 Governors to Cut Off ICE’s Self-Service Access to DMV Data

Lawmakers cite fresh Nlets query totals to justify technical blocks that keep case-by-case sharing.

Commuters arrive at Holland Tunnel to drive into New York from Jersey City, New Jersey November 7, 2012. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Governor of California Gavin Newsom attends a press conference during the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para State, Brazil on November 11, 2025. Brazil is betting its much-hyped climate summit in the Amazon next month can deliver something increasingly rare in a fractured world: proof that nations can still unite to confront a global crisis (Photo by Mauro PIMENTEL / AFP) (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images)
ICE agents conduct operations in the Little Village neighborhood, a predominantly Mexican-American community in Chicago, on Nov. 8, 2025. (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Image

Overview

  • Forty Democratic members of Congress led by Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Adriano Espaillat sent letters urging Democratic governors to block ICE and related federal agencies from tapping state DMV data via Nlets.
  • Data provided to Congress show Nlets processed over 290 million DMV queries from Oct. 1, 2024 to Oct. 1, 2025, including 292,114 by ICE and 605,116 by Homeland Security Investigations.
  • The letters argue states can maintain cooperation on serious crimes through reviewed, case-by-case requests while ending unfettered, self-service lookups by federal agencies.
  • New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Washington have already restricted ICE access through Nlets, and Oregon is reported to be implementing a block.
  • Lawmakers warn many officials are unaware of the breadth of sharing, note that 41 states make license photos available, and say ICE’s use of DMV images for facial recognition remains unclear; ICE and Nlets did not comment.