DATA SPILL

Blue States Accidentally Hand Over Residents’ Data to ICE

In a letter to Democratic governors, lawmakers warned that states were sharing data.

A group of congressional Democrats has warned governors in their own party that their states may have been unknowingly sharing residents’ data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On Wednesday, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeffrey A. Merkley, along with 38 Democratic lawmakers, sent a letter to Democratic governors urging them to “block ICE’s access,” as well as that of other federal agencies “acting as Trump’s shock troops,” to the personal data of their residents.

“This commonsense step will improve public safety and guard against Trump officials using your state’s data for unjustified, politicized actions, while still allowing continued collaboration on serious crimes,” the letter read, urging governors to take steps to stop data from being shared without their knowledge to allegedly advance President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

According to the letter, states have made their residents’ Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) data available to thousands of state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies through the nonprofit network Nlets—allowing agencies to access driver’s license data in real time without state employees even knowing.

In October, Nlets provided Congress with information showing that the nonprofit facilitated 290 million queries for DMV data in the prior year, 292,114 of which were from ICE and 605,116 from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

NEW LOW

Baby Pepper-Sprayed by DHS Thugs During Family Grocery Trip

Tom Latchem

Nlets stated that it is aware of only four states—Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, and Minnesota—that have blocked ICE from accessing DMV data.

The Daily Beast has contacted ICE and Nlets for comment, but received no immediate response.

Since Trump launched his immigration crackdown in Democratic cities, protests have erupted in places like Chicago and San Francisco, with governors such as Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker speaking out against the raids.

Yet, Wednesday’s letter warns that even if states have taken steps to limit data shared with or accessed by ICE, these measures are often ineffective because the Nlets system is complex, and it is difficult to understand how it shares residents’ data with agencies.

Play Video

The letter urges states to “promptly request a detailed briefing” from their state Nlets coordinator, obtain statistics on data disclosures by Nlets to federal immigration agencies, and implement “technical blocks to prevent data sharing with the Department of Homeland Security.”

In a 60 Minutes interview on Nov. 2, the president said he believes ICE raids “haven’t gone far enough,” despite host Norah O’Donnell detailing cases of violence and fear tactics being used by ICE agents on members of the public. When asked if he was comfortable with these tactics, Trump said he is, adding, “You have to get the people out.”

See more of our coverage in your search results.

ADD THE DAILY BEAST ON GOOGLE

Wiktoria GuciaReporter

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.