By Nate Raymond
BOSTON, May 28 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration is suing to challenge the refusal of four U.S. states to issue confidential license plates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, saying the states have long provided them to other law enforcement agencies conducting undercover operations.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said it had filed lawsuits against Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon and Washington after states led by Democratic governors refused to rescind their policies. ICE is seeking access to such plates to carry out arrests as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Officials in at least two of those states, Maine and Massachusetts, previously cited aggressive tactics by ICE agents, saying they did not want state resources used to facilitate covert civil immigration enforcement.
The lawsuits make good on a threat Assistant U.S. Attorney General Brett Shumate had made in a series of letters sent this month, telling state officials the administration would sue if they did not alter their policies.
The Justice Department contends the states unlawfully discriminate against the federal government in violation of the U.S. Constitution by treating ICE and other components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security differently than state and local law enforcement agencies.
The Justice Department said the policies threaten the safety of federal immigration agents, exposing officers to harassment, tracking, and assaults while they carry out arrests.
“Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe and must be able to carry out their duties effectively,” Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, issued a statement defending the state’s new policy. She said the state supports legitimate criminal investigative work but added “that’s not what we are seeing from ICE and its unconstitutional tactics.”
“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,” she said.
A spokesperson for Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat, pointed to a letter he sent last week defending the state’s new policy of not issuing plates for civil immigration enforcement as lawful.
A spokesperson for Oregon Governor Tina Kotek, a Democrat, said the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles had temporarily paused issuing new undercover license plates to federal agencies pending a review of its policies.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, editing by Deepa Babington and David Gregorio)
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