DOJ Sues Four States Blocking Covert Plates for ICE Agents
The Justice Department sued Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington for refusing to provide confidential license plates to federal agents while supplying them to state and local law enforcement.
According to Breitbart News, lawsuits were filed Wednesday against Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington over state policies that deny undercover plates to federal agents, including those working for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The legal action follows a May 12 letter from the Department of Justice warning the four states that their policies were unconstitutional. All four refused to rescind the discriminatory measures, the DOJ said.
Federal officials described the state policies as threatening both the operational effectiveness and physical safety of federal agents amid what the department characterized as a wave of targeted harassment against law enforcement personnel.
Without access to confidential plates, dangerous individuals can track and evade law enforcement, the department warned. There is no legitimate justification for states to withhold undercover plates from federal agents, officials added.
Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General, issued a strong rebuke of the four governors involved. He said the Justice Department would use all lawful authorities to support law enforcement officers who risk their lives daily to protect American communities.
The Acting Attorney General said state governors pursuing these discriminatory and obstructionist policies against federal law enforcement are undermining immigration enforcement specifically. Such actions allow dangerous criminals to escape justice and terrorize American communities, he stated.
Operational Risks and Legal Arguments
Brett A. Shumate, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, pledged the department would steadfastly protect law enforcement operational effectiveness and safety from unconstitutional state policies.
In his May letter to Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, Shumate detailed the serious risks created when federal vehicles can be identified through government plates or publicly available registration information.
Federal officers investigate drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, and fraud, Shumate wrote. These cases frequently require covert surveillance and undercover activities to be successful.
Federal law enforcement duties also include locating missing children, apprehending fugitives, safeguarding protected persons, and transporting dignitaries, he noted.
Identifiable vehicles expose officers, their families, and people under federal protection to substantial risk, the letter warned. Officers could be tracked to their homes, while criminal suspects could flee, destroy evidence, or take countermeasures to avoid arrest.
Supremacy Clause Violation
Shumate argued the Washington policy violated the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution because the state was treating Department of Homeland Security components differently from similarly situated state and local law enforcement agencies.
He requested Washington restore the issuance of undercover plates to federal law enforcement agencies on equal terms with state and local law enforcement. The request specifically mentioned Homeland Security Investigations, ICE, and Customs and Border Protection among agencies requiring access.
The Justice Department described the four lawsuits as the latest in a series of legal actions brought by the Civil Division against state policies designed to obstruct federal law enforcement operations nationwide.
With information from Breitbart News
