Nearly 20 Democratic states inadvertently share driver data with ICE, lawmakers say

A coalition of 40 Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate is warning blue states about a tech policy loophole that permits Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to their residents’ data.

On Wednesday, 19 letters led by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat were sent to state governors, warning that state resident information managed by the International Justice and Public Safety Network — or Nlets — can be used by ICE to query driver license and registration information. 

Those states include California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey, although the letter also noted that “41 states share drivers’ license photos through Nlets.”

Citing metrics from Nlets, the lawmakers wrote that in the year preceding Oct. 1, 2025, Nlets processed more than 290 million queries for Department of Motor Vehicles data. Of those queries, some 290,000 came from ICE and around 600,000 came from Homeland Security Investigations, a law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

“These statistics represent federal and out-of-state requests for data because law enforcement agencies do not generally access DMV data about residents of their own states through Nlets,” they wrote in the letters.

Nlets, a nonprofit, describes itself as a national information-sharing network that connects state, local, and federal law enforcement and public-safety agencies through a secure, computer-based messaging system. The organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

ICE and a handful of other agencies have become a major flashpoint in the second Trump administration’s immigration and deportation policies, which have faced scrutiny over aggressive enforcement tactics, expanded data collection programs and the growing use of surveillance technology to track migrants.

Only a small number of states have blocked ICE from accessing state resident information managed by Nlets, the missives say. Those include Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York, which have barred ICE access as of early November.

The lawmakers encourage governors to shutter ICE access to the Nlets system and hold briefings with their Nlets coordinators.

“It is now abundantly clear that a major reason that so few states have locked down the data they share through Nlets is because of an information gap. Because of the technical complexity of Nlets’ system, few state government officials understand how their state is sharing their residents’ data with federal and out-of-state agencies,” the lawmakers add.

The letters add that blocking immigration offices’ access to Nlets “will not prevent federal law enforcement from obtaining information needed to investigate serious crimes” but that taking these measures will “significantly increase accountability and reduce abuse” from relevant agencies.