The U.S. Department of Justice has filed lawsuits against four sanctuary states for refusing to issue undercover license plates to federal agents, particularly for immigration enforcement vehicles.
The DOJ is suing Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington over the move, arguing that their refusal to issue confidential license plates to federal law enforcement is discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Refusing to issue undercover license plates is the latest tactic by Democrat-run states to thwart immigration enforcement, according to DOJ officials, and state officials aren’t necessarily denying it.
Oregon placed a general moratorium on issuing undercover plates to federal agents, while Maine and Washington, like Massachusetts, are declining to provide plates for civil investigations. Most immigration enforcement efforts fall under civil infractions, unless federal agents are trying to detain criminals.
The four state governments are accused of trying “to obstruct the Federal Government’s immigration enforcement efforts, even though control over immigration and the nation’s borders is an exclusive federal power.”
Not only are the states undermining the Constitution, but they are putting public safety at risk, impeding law enforcement, and jeopardizing agents’ safety.
“By denying undercover license plates to DHS 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. “These actions undermine federal immigration enforcement, allow dangerous criminals to escape justice, and terrorize American communities.”
Ironically, several of the states’ motor vehicle departments were lenient in their policies regarding issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, including Oregon and Washington, which have been targeted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The DOJ filed the lawsuits after the states ignored warnings from the Justice Department to each of the state’s top officials.
DOJ Civil Division Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate had given the states until May 22 to provide DHS and ICE officers with undercover plates for their vehicles, Fox News Digital reported.
The DOJ maintains the states are unlawfully discriminating against federal law enforcement and violating the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
The states have argued that they are not required to assist with civil immigration enforcement and therefore do not have to issue license plates for federal law enforcement vehicles.
In addition, Democratic-led states maintain the feds are increasingly used unmarked vehicles to carry out aggressive ICE enforcement in their cities.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown in a May 22 letter to the DOJ wrote that “the supremacy clause does not require Washington to affirmatively commit its resources to facilitate these lawless acts, which have provoked fear in our residents and undermined public trust in law enforcement.”
Washington’s Gov. Bob Ferguson said the state “looks forward to defending this lawsuit,” noting the state’s Department of Licensing voluntarily provides hundreds of undercover plates every year for criminal investigations.
“Judges across the country have found that the Department of Homeland Security’s tactics in conducting civil immigration enforcement routinely violate the Constitution,” Ferguson said in a statement per local KREM 2 News. “That is unacceptable. Our state will not facilitate that misconduct.”
Oregon’s Department of Motor Vehicles is reviewing the policy and has offered few details to date, Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported. Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said the governor expects the state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services to “clearly communicate next steps.”
Oregon transportation officials quietly stopped issuing undercover license plates to federal agencies in mid-April. Prior to the DOJ lawsuit, Oregon officials told the Trump administration the state wasn’t going to resume issuing undercover state license plates to federal law enforcement agencies.
State officials cited concerns over possible litigation, saying providing the undercover plates could be viewed as the state violating its own state sanctuary protections. In a letter to the Justice Department, DMV Administrator Amy Joyce asserted that Oregon law “permits, but does not require, DMV to issue undercover plates.”
The DOJ lawsuit references the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, arguing it establishes federal law as supreme over conflicting state laws.
Per the lawsuit, the federal government does not have to cede authority to the states or abide by “dangerous policy which jeopardizes federal law enforcement operations and the officers who carry them out.”
The DOJ said federal agents frequently investigate and apprehend violent criminals, including cartel members, gang members, sex offenders, human traffickers and other violent offenders.” Without undercover plates, they are exposed to increased tracking and doxxing as well as harassment and potential physical harm.
The lawsuits are the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the Civil Division targeting illegal policies designed to thwart federal law enforcement across the country.
“The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect the operational effectiveness and safety of law enforcement from these unconstitutional state policies,” Shumate said.
