Oregon — Governor Tina Kotek has directed the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles to permanently stop issuing undercover license plates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, marking a significant escalation in Oregon’s dispute with the Trump administration over federal immigration enforcement.
The announcement comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice sued Oregon, alleging the state’s suspension of confidential license plates for federal agencies violates the Constitution and interferes with federal law enforcement operations.
In a statement released Monday, Kotek said ICE agents have repeatedly violated state and federal laws and argued Oregon should not assist federal immigration enforcement efforts.
“ICE agents have repeatedly engaged in illegitimate activities, causing unwarranted chaos, sowing fear, and damaging the relationship between law enforcement and our communities,” Kotek said. “Oregon will follow state law and ensure we do not aid these unlawful immigration enforcement efforts.”
The governor’s office stated that masked and unidentified ICE agents operating in unmarked vehicles have created fear in communities across Oregon and the nation. The administration argued that Oregon’s long-standing sanctuary law prohibits state agencies from directly or indirectly participating in immigration enforcement activities without a judicial warrant.
According to the governor’s office, Oregon DMV currently administers an undercover license plate program used by approximately 45 federal agencies, with roughly 1,260 undercover plates in circulation. DMV paused issuing new undercover plates to all federal agencies on April 15 while reviewing compliance with state law.
Following that review, DMV will continue denying new undercover plates to ICE while resuming issuance to federal agencies that do not primarily conduct immigration enforcement and are not deemed to be violating Oregon law. State and local law enforcement agencies will continue receiving undercover plates without interruption.
“We cannot expend state resources to assist in federal immigration enforcement,” DMV Administrator Amy Joyce said in a statement. “The prospect of litigation in this area is real. We need to follow state law and protect taxpayers from legal risk. Where there is not risk of breaking state law, Oregon DMV will continue to partner with federal law enforcement agencies like the FBI, DEA and U.S. Marshals Service.”
The announcement directly addresses claims made in the federal lawsuit. The DOJ argues confidential plates are critical for undercover investigations, fugitive operations, drug trafficking cases, human trafficking investigations, counterterrorism efforts, and officer safety. Federal attorneys contend Oregon’s policy unlawfully discriminates against federal agencies and violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Oregon officials rejected one of the lawsuit’s central arguments regarding officer safety, stating that federal government vehicles typically use federal fleet plates and that the use of standard plates does not expose individual agents to identification or doxxing because vehicle registrations are not tied to specific agents.
The governor’s action appears to partially reverse the broader federal plate suspension challenged in the lawsuit. Under the new policy, federal agencies such as the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Marshals Service would once again be eligible for undercover plates, while ICE would remain excluded.
The DOJ lawsuit remains pending in federal court. The outcome could determine whether Oregon may legally deny confidential plates to specific federal agencies based on the nature of their enforcement activities while continuing to provide them to others.
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She is such a loser! Her voters want it BUT QUEEN KOTEK rules her kingdom with a TYRANT’S Fist