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.
