Findings: Between August 2025 and July 27, 2026, UWCHR has verified 64 cases in which immigration arrests occurred following federal agents’ search of license plate numbers in the Washington DOL database via the data-sharing network Nlets. Although state authorities have restricted access to Nlets to certain ORIs, the data sharing continues.
DOL data sharing in Washington state: Today, immigrants living in the state of Washington feel increasingly afraid when driving, since our streets, highways and public roads have become frequent scenes of immigration control operations. These incidents, in which drivers are often stopped by masked officers driving unmarked vehicles, raise multiple human rights concerns: many arrests appear to have been made without a warrant; some have been violent; and even U.S. citizens have been detained. And unfortunately, this pattern of abuse is occurring with the help of two Washington state institutions: the Department of Licensing (DOL) and the Washington State Patrol.
UW Center for Human Rights (UWCHR) research has shown that federal agents routinely travel to areas frequented by immigrants and people of color, and run the license plates of vehicles they see through a national data-sharing system called Nlets which allows them to access the Washington DOL database. There, they learn the names and addresses of the registered owners of vehicles before them, and run those names against their own databases to see if they believe the car’s owner is “deportable”; if so, they often pull the car over within minutes. While state laws prohibit WA agencies from providing information to assist in civil immigration enforcement, in all too many cases this is exactly what’s happening. This occurs despite numerous previous revelations that the DOL was sharing driver data with federal immigration authorities, and despite multiple promises that this would stop.
It’s time to demand a change.
What is Nlets: Nlets is a 50 year old data-sharing system that connects law enforcement databases nationally, allowing federal agencies like ICE or CBP to access WA Department of Licensing information. Federal agents use Nlets to query the license plates of cars passing by to find information including the car’s registered owner and their home address.
What is an ORI: An ORI is a nine-character code that identifies the particular agency performing an Nlets query. Washington state officials have the power to restrict Nlets access to ORIs they believe are using this information for civil immigration purposes, and have done so in some cases. However, UWCHR research has found that agents are now submitting their queries under different ORIs. These actions taken have not stopped the abuse.
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