President Donald Trump’s administration has filed a lawsuit against four Democratic-leaning states for refusing to issue confidential license plates to vehicles carrying federal immigration agents.
On Thursday, the Justice Department announced the complaint on its website, accusing the states of Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington of defying the federal government’s demands.
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It argued that masked license plates were necessary for the “work effectiveness and safety” of investigators “who are facing a wave of targeted harassment.”
But state officials pushed back, arguing that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents should not be allowed to operate covertly without proper oversight.
The clashes come as President Trump is waging a mass deportation campaign that critics accuse of human rights abuses, including gratuitous violence, illegal arrests and denial of due process rights.
Obfuscate the agent’s identity
But the Trump administration has used concerns about ICE’s safety to crack down on efforts to identify agents.
Last year, for example, the administration pressured technology companies like Apple and Google to remove apps that track ICE agents, citing the risk of violence.
It also rejected a list of reforms requested by Congressional Democrats. The proposed reform calls for making ICE agents easier to identify, ending racial profiling, and adhering to standards for the use of force.
The question of how to hold ICE accountable remains politically divisive. Trump officials went so far as to suggest that ICE could be immune from prosecution.
After an ICE officer shot and killed Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, Vice President J.D. Vance initially told reporters, “That man is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job,” but later recanted that statement.
Sensitive license plates are one tactic used by the federal government to protect government employees from their official identities.
License plate numbers are typically stored in databases that are accessible to state and federal authorities. However, private license plates obscure the ownership of the car.
Several states in which the Trump administration filed the lawsuit Thursday argue that ICE officers are not entitled to such protections because they primarily pursue civil violations, not criminal investigations.
Watchdog groups also largely oppose such concealment, arguing that it allows ICE agents to commit acts of violence with impunity.
Countries react
On Thursday morning, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey mentioned the lawsuit during a press conference describing incidents in which ICE overstepped its authority by arresting U.S. citizens and legal residents.
“Last night, Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Registry of Motor Vehicles,” Healey said. “They want us to have secret license plates so that ICE can operate in Massachusetts secretly, secretly from the police.”
She then began drawing lines between ICE’s actions and those of other federal law enforcement agencies.
“We support law enforcement doing legitimate law enforcement work. That’s not what we see from ICE,” Healy continued.
“So we are not going to help them operate in secret as they remove people from our streets for no reason. We are not going to allow them to make our streets, our communities, our neighborhoods, and our state less safe.”
Separately, in Oregon, officials told the Trump administration that they had temporarily suspended all federal vehicle registrations while the state conducted a legal evaluation.
“The DMV suspension is not intended to endanger federal law enforcement officers or impede ongoing criminal investigations,” Amy Joyce, an Oregon Department of Transportation official, said in an open letter.
“A pause is necessary to ensure that vehicle registration and license plate issuance with federal agencies is fully compliant with Oregon law.”
Oregon has a so-called sanctuary law that prohibits state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement, even indirectly. State participation requires a judicial warrant.
In his letter, Joyce pointed to lawsuits the state has faced in the past, adding, “The possibility of litigation in this area is real.”
He also emphasized that undercover plates on federal vehicles are optional and Oregon is not required to distribute them. Federal vehicles can drive on Oregon roads without state license plates.
federal power and state power
But the Trump administration is likely to kick off a full-fledged legal battle over the division of state and federal powers when it files a lawsuit Thursday.
Justice Department officials argued that denying ICE agents confidential license plates is not only illegal, but violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The act supersedes federal law over state laws that may conflict with its mandate.
However, it is unclear whether such claims will ultimately prevail in court. Each state typically has its own motor vehicle department, but the federal government has the authority to distribute its own plates for official use.
But Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that the states in question were unlawfully restricting federal activity by denying local license plates.
“These governors are pursuing discriminatory and obstructionist policies against federal law enforcement by refusing to issue masked license plates to DHS components, including ICE, while issuing masked license plates to their own state agencies,” Blanche said in a statement.
“These actions undermine federal immigration enforcement, allow dangerous criminals to evade justice, and terrorize American society.”
The lawsuit itself alleges that federal plates can put immigration officers at risk during undercover operations.
“Such law enforcement operations require federal law enforcement officers to blend into their environment to avoid early detection that could compromise their mission and put them at risk,” the lawsuit against Massachusetts states.
“If investigators are forced to use a single, traceable official plate, those targeted for enforcement may be able to track and evade enforcement.”
But in response to the lawsuit, Governor Healey said the issue ultimately comes down to whether federal employees “respect the rule of law here in Massachusetts.”
