U.S. Customs and Border Protection accesses Illinois license plate data
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection accessed data collected from Illinois license plate readers, a violation of state law.
The big picture: Illinois passed a law in 2023 that prohibits automated license plate readers (ALPRs) from sharing data with police investigating out-of-state abortions or undocumented immigrants.
- The 2023 law was an expansion on the Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act, which the Legislature passed in 2020 to enable the use of ALPRs to aid in investigations of expressway shootings, carjackings and other crimes.
The latest: ALPR camera operator Flock Safety gave CBP access to Illinois license plate camera data, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced this week.
- Illinois' cameras were among 80,000 cameras that the immigration agency tapped into, according to 404 Media.
Catch up quick: Giannoulias' office initiated an audit in June after reports found that Texas law enforcement accessed Flock data from police departments across the country to look into a woman who left the state to get an abortion.
- Suburban Mount Prospect was one of the police departments searched, and the chief said at the time he didn't know the department had even opted into that feature.
- CBP had been asking local law enforcement agencies to conduct immigration-related searches of ALPR data, 404 Media reported in May, a finding confirmed by Giannoulias' office.
What they're saying: "While it is true that Flock does not presently have a contractual relationship with any U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies, we have engaged in limited pilots with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to assist those agencies in combatting human trafficking and fentanyl distribution," company CEO Garrett Langley said in a statement.
- "As of last week, all ongoing federal pilots have been paused," the statement added.
The other side: Axios reached out to CBP Tuesday afternoon but has not received a response.
What's next: Giannoulias has asked local police departments to re-examine their agreements with Flock and whether they've violated the Illinois Trust Act, which bars local police from collaborating with federal authorities on immigration enforcement without a court warrant.