Federal immigration enforcement officers have repeatedly obtained private driver and vehicle data from Washington state registries to execute roadside arrests, according to an extensive investigation published by the University of Washington Center for Human Rights .
Broadcast reporting from FOX 13 Seattle highlighted statements from Center for Human Rights director Angelina Godoy, who noted that administrative pledges extracted from federal authorities have proven insufficient to halt the pipeline.
Between January 2025 and May 2026, federal Homeland Security subagencies executed 3,696,147 database inquiries against Washington driver and vehicle records, proving that selective account blocking did not restrict federal operational reach.
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Maryland, which enacted warrant restrictions more recently, continues to struggle with administrative compliance across regional law enforcement communication systems.
A University of Washington Center for Human Rights study documents 356 roadside arrests following federal queries of state driver records through Nlets and WSP ACCESS, prompting calls for strict judicial warrant mandates.