The Department of Justice announced lawsuits Thursday against four Democrat-led states that have policies blocking ICE from obtaining registrations for vehicles used in undercover work.
Maine, Washington, Oregon and Massachusetts restrict access to confidential license plates. The Justice Department says their policies are unconstitutional and dangerous to federal agents.
“By denying undercover license plates to [Department of Homeland Security] components, including ICE, while issuing them to their own state agencies, these governors are pursuing discriminatory and obstructionist policies against federal law enforcement,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said.
Undercover plates are standard in law enforcement work, allowing agents and officers to blend in with regular traffic and conduct operations with less visibility. The Justice Department said they also can prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from being tracked and harassed.
Oregon’s policy refuses license plates for all federal law enforcement, while Maine’s grants license plates only after the federal agency proves it won’t use the vehicles for immigration enforcement.
Washington will issue to some federal agencies but not Homeland Security. And Massachusetts specifically targets ICE, offering civilian undercover registrations only if the agency proves the vehicles will be used for criminal investigations and not civil immigration enforcement.
States have generally defended their policies as a necessary check on being roped into assisting the federal government in immigration enforcement.
“Massachusetts is not going to allow state resources to be used to help ICE operate in secret while they are violating people’s rights and making us all less safe,” Jacqueline Manning, a spokeswoman for Gov. Maura Healey, said earlier this month.
Ms. Manning said “legitimate criminal law enforcement work” can still get a confidential plate.
Her comments came in response to DOJ letters sent to the four states asking them to revoke their policies.
The lawsuits are the latest in a string of legal cases the Trump administration has brought challenging sanctuary policies.
So far, the Justice Department has been mostly unsuccessful. Federal judges have blocked attempts to withhold money from sanctuaries.
And lawsuits aimed at overturning laws, such as New York’s limit on arrests at state courthouses, have been rebuffed by judges.
The Justice Department has seen success in challenging anti-masking and forced identification laws. California had both — and both have been blocked by federal courts that ruled they trampled on federal power.
California’s anti-masking law, in particular, was blocked because courts found it discriminated by singling out the federal government. The state had no similar law for its own personnel.
The Justice Department suggested that same logic could apply to the license plate restrictions.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.