Despite Oregon being the oldest sanctuary state in the country, state police have allowed federal authorities to access Oregonians’ data through shared law enforcement databases for years, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit, filed by the nonprofit Rural Organizing Project, claims state police have long-violated Oregon’s decades-old sanctuary law, which prohibits state and local resources from being used towards immigration enforcement. Last year alone, immigration authorities queried state-run databases — which includes license plate and drivers license information — 1.4 million times, according to the lawsuit.
FILE — A contract signed by Oregon State Police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement states that “all users agree not to share data derived from this system for the purpose of federal immigration enforcement.” Above, OSP's Forensic Laboratory and Medical Examiner Division offices in Clackamas, Ore., March 20, 2025.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
Oregon State Police signed two new data-sharing agreements with federal immigration agencies in December and February. The contract signed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and OSP states that “all users agree not to share data derived from this system for the purpose of federal immigration enforcement.”
“Oregon’s law has clearly prohibited this kind of information sharing for almost 40 years,” Oregon Law Center’s Heather Marek, who is representing the nonprofit, said in a statement Tuesday. “Oregonians need Oregon State Police to respect the law and protect their data, immediately and permanently.”
The Oregon Department of Justice, which is the attorney for state agencies including the state police, declined to comment and referred OPB’s inquiries back to the agency.
Capt. Kyle Kennedy said OSP was aware of litigation “related to federal immigration enforcement access to Oregon records,” but said he could not make comments about a pending lawsuit.
“OSP is committed to following Oregon Sanctuary Laws and has not taken any actions that would violate those laws,” Kennedy wrote.
Oregon lawmakers first passed the state’s sanctuary law in 1987, limiting state and local resources from being used for immigration enforcement. Since then, many cities and states across the country have followed Oregon’s lead. In the years since the law passed in Salem, the state Legislature has added protections and privileges for immigrants.
The lawsuit comes amid President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, including in Oregon. Between September 27 and March 1, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested more than 1,100 people as part of “Operation Black Rose,” one of several immigration sweeps rolled out by the Trump administration. Testimony offered by ICE officers in federal court last year noted the agency’s use of license plate information to identify people who may be in the country unlawfully.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained immigrants in custody at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma since the facility's opening in 2004.
Stephani Gordon / OPB
The databases at issue include the Law Enforcement Data System, known as LEDS, as well as the National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System, or NLETS.
The LEDS database is Oregon’s law enforcement database, operated by state police, that maintains information about warrants and individuals’ criminal histories. Under Oregon rules, LEDS also links records from the DMV, Public Utilities Commission, State Marine Board “and other non-criminal justice agencies to make appropriate information available to Oregon criminal justice agencies to assist in the enforcement of state criminal and traffic laws and regulations.”
NLETS is an external organization that links local, state, federal and international law enforcement agencies “to exchange criminal justice and public safety related information,” sharing data “in a matter of seconds.”
The lawsuit also alleges state police have control over the outside agencies that can access data in Oregon through NLETS.
“OSP makes Oregonians’ sensitive personal information available to federal immigration enforcement agencies—including driver license, driver history, driver license photographs, and vehicle registration data,” the lawsuit states.
Oregon State Police have the ability to limit federal immigration authorities from accessing data, including Department of Motor Vehicle records, similar to states such as New York, Minnesota and Massachusetts and Illinois, according to the complaint.
A Nov. 12 letter sent to many state governors, and signed by Sens. Ron Wyden, Jeff Merkley and other Democrats from Oregon’s congressional delegation, noted that “Washington indicated that it too has now blocked ICE’s access to DMV data, and Oregon is working on a process for blocking ICE’s access to DMV data.”
Since then, OSP has signed two agreements with DHS to share data.
Late last year, NLETS provided Oregon State Police with information about how to identify ICE related searches through its originating requester code (ORI) and according to the lawsuit “states can restrict access by a federal agency’s unique ORI code.”
“Despite having the power to do so, Defendant OSP refuses to stop using its resources and sensitive personal information of Oregonians to help federal immigration authorities,” the 40-page lawsuit states.
