DOJ Says ‘Discriminatory and Obstructionist Policies’ in These Blue States Endanger ICE Agents

Four blue states are putting federal agents in danger in an effort to hinder immigration enforcement, a Justice Department action contends.

On Monday, days after a Justice Department lawsuit, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, ordered state agencies to continue denying undercover license plates to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

This marks one of the latest federal-state conflicts in which blue-state governors have vowed to resist President Donald Trump’s policies.

In lawsuits filed late last week against the states of Maine and Massachusetts on the East Coast and against the states of Washington and Oregon on the West Coast, the Justice Department alleges that state policies denying confidential license plates to federal agents are unconstitutional.

The lawsuits allege that the state policies threaten the operational effectiveness and safety of federal agents who have faced targeted harassment across the country. The complaints further assert that if an agent can’t use undercover plates—as state and local law enforcement do—criminals can track and evade federal law enforcement.

However, Kotek said that Oregon’s decades-old sanctuary policy prevents the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles from cooperating with federal authorities for the purpose of immigration enforcement.

The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles temporarily paused disbursing new undercover license plates to all federal agencies beginning April 15, pending a review of compliance with state law. State and local law enforcement were unaffected by this pause, and the federal agencies that participated in the program could continue to use their existing unexpired plates.

Kotek on Monday announced the state should permanently stop providing undercover plates to immigration enforcement agents but will resume issuing plates to federal agencies that don’t primarily conduct immigration enforcement. Her directive also said the state will maintain regular undercover plate access for state and local law enforcement, which has continued and remains unaffected by this action.

“ICE agents have repeatedly engaged in illegitimate activities, causing unwarranted chaos, sowing fear, and damaging the relationship between law enforcement and our communities,” Kotek said in a Monday statement. “Oregon will follow state law and ensure we do not aid these unlawful immigration enforcement efforts.”

Federal law enforcement officers should be able to carry out their duties effectively, said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“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,” Blanche said in a May 28 public statement. “These actions undermine federal immigration enforcement, allow dangerous criminals to escape justice, and terrorize American communities.”

Before the lawsuits, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate sent letters to the states. He called the policies “dangerous, shameful, and unconstitutional.”

However, Washington Attorney General Nicholas W. Brown replied in a May 22 letter that his state provides “hundreds of undercover plates to federal agencies each year,” including to the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.

“The implication in your letter that Washington is denying undercover plates to all federal agencies and thereby potentially hampering federal criminal investigations into terrorism, fraud, and more is simply wrong,” Brown wrote. “Your letter is also wrong on the law. You suggest that Washington must issue undercover plates to all federal agencies without exception. But under the Tenth Amendment and fundamental principles of federalism, Washington may choose whether to provide state resources to assist with federal programs.”

Attorneys general offices in Maine and Massachusetts, which will be defending the states against the Justice Department lawsuits, did not respond to inquiries from the Daily Signal for this story.

Last week in response to the lawsuit, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said, “We are not going to use state resources to help ICE operate in secret, and without accountability, while refusing to provide basic information about who they are arresting and why.”

Shumate said in announcing the lawsuits, “The Department of Justice will steadfastly protect the operational effectiveness and safety of law enforcement from these unconstitutional state policies.”