A little-known loophole within the database system known as the International Justice & Public Safety Network, or Nlets, enables Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to obtain individual data from the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, a letter sent by a contingent of Congressional Democrats to Gov. Matt Meyer on November 12 read.
The letter was sent to several Democratic-led state governors alerting them to the loophole that uses state police “as a conduit for out-of-state and federal agency access to the state DMV database through Nlets,” and urging them to address the issue.
“We urge you to block ICE’s access, as Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Washington have already done and Oregon is in the process of doing.”
Nlets is a data-sharing, non-profit organization “managed by state police agencies,” according to the letter. It utilizes a query system that allows state police to search and access DMV information, such as driver’s license records and photos, from among 41 participating states.
Mila Myles, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said that they are aware of the issue and are working to investigate it.
Delaware State Police public affairs officer David Huyhn confirmed that the law enforcement agency “serves as an Nlets Systems Agency for Delaware,” but that it “does not directly provide DMV data to the inquiring agency.”
“The DMV is the agency that authorizes certified entities to access the Delaware DMV database through Nlets,” he said.
Representatives for the Delaware Department of Transportation, which oversees the DMV, did not respond to a request for comment.
Concerns about ICE accessing DMV information were raised during President Donald Trump’s first term. A law passed in 2015 aimed to provide undocumented drivers with “driving privilege” cards that allowed them to obtain driver’s insurance, was created with the provision that the DMV would cooperate with law enforcement officials in instances that involved a criminal investigation.
By 2018, worries grew that ICE could potentially use this provision to target drivers, since immigration-related charges also qualify as criminal offences.
Former board member of La Esperanza, a Georgetown immigration advocacy group, Margaret Reyes, outlined the result of ICE having access to DMV information. “What will happen now is if people know that DMV is a loophole for ICE to get information about them, they may no longer go to DMV and get these driving [privilege] cards, which means we’ll be back to where we were twenty, twenty-five years ago where they’re driving without a license and without registration and without insurance,” she said. “It sets the whole clock back on the advances that have been made by the state of Delaware in encouraging people to get a proper driver’s license, and therefore get insured to drive. That puts everyone at risk, the immigrant community as well as the greater community at large.”
Efforts to prevent data sharing with federal agencies like ICE have proved futile. In July, Gov. Meyer signed House Bill 182, which originally included a provision to ban Delaware law enforcement agencies from sharing data with federal immigration authorities. In the final version of the bill, that provision was taken out. Meanwhile, Bill HB60 — aimed at preventing data sharing with federal agencies unless accompanied by a court order — was voted out of the House Judiciary committee in April.
Alarm over ICE using aggressive tactics that involve masked ICE agents detaining people, including U.S. citizens, under sometimes dubious legal circumstances, has resurfaced amid President Donald Trump’s second term.
“We’ve seen this administration target so many different systems and places to get information,” said American Civil Liberties Union Delaware campaign manager Helen Salita. “They promised to deport 11 million people, therefore they have to be able to find 11 million people.”
Salita explained that states are a wealth of resources for data, including private information from multiple government databases, and it’s important to ensure safeguards are in place to protect it.
“We want to make sure that things are being done legally, that those folks that want the information have the proper legal authority to be able to do that.”
Correction: An earlier version stated that HB60 was waiting to be signed by the Governor. It was only voted out of the committee.