LAS VEGAS – The ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit today against the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for repeatedly refusing to release documents detailing its communications with ICE.
The lawsuit, ACLU of Nevada v. Nevada DMV, follows multiple public records requests from ACLU of Nevada over a six-month period seeking the Nevada DMV’s internal policies and communications related to immigration enforcement. Only after the nonprofit organization sent a formal demand letter through the Attorney General’s Office did the agency release a small set of incomplete, heavily-redacted records. Those records confirmed communications between ICE and the Nevada DMV, which raise serious concerns about the information shared between the agencies.
Redacted records also suggest the existence of encrypted Signal communications groups between staff at the Nevada DMV and ICE, the contents of which have not been made publicly available. Signal is an encrypted messaging app with auto-delete features and no recovery mechanism that is widely used to engage in conversations that are largely untraceable. Nevada law requires public agencies to preserve official records and make them available upon request. Use of encrypted, auto-deleting messaging apps for government business likely violates record retention requirements and also raises questions about the full extent of the DMV’s cooperation with ICE.
The ACLU of Nevada is seeking a court order requiring the DMV to release all requested records in full and to comply with Nevada’s public records law. The organization is also seeking the complete disclosure of the existence of any Signal group chats between any staff at the Nevada DMV and any staff at ICE, including any and all communications that have occurred between ICE and the DMV on Signal. If the DMV denies the existence that such a chat ever occurred, the organization is seeking a clear explanation for references to Signal group chats contained within the redacted emails provided to ACLU of Nevada. The organization is also seeking a State investigation into all communications between ICE and the DMV by an independent audit commission or outside investigator.
ACLU of Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah said:
“The Nevada DMV maintains one of the largest repositories of information statewide. After stonewalling our attempts for transparency in communication between the DMV and ICE, the records we’ve obtained, even while heavily redacted, suggest significant and problematic communication between the DMV and ICE. References to a Signal group between employees of the Nevada DMV and ICE raises enormous alarms. Signal is an encrypted communications app that makes communication between parties nearly untraceable. Governor Lombardo must make all records between the Nevada DMV and ICE transparent to the public without redactions to best protect the privacy interests of Nevadans. Without transparency, there is no accountability, and without accountability, our communities remain at risk.”
ACLU of Nevada senior staff attorney Sadmira Ramic said:
“Public records are critical. When an agency refuses to release them, it denies Nevadans their right to know how their government operates. Here, the limited records we have obtained after months of back and forth show the DMV has been working with ICE, the extent of which can't be fully known with heavy record redactions, and suggest the use of Signal to communicate. This lawsuit isn’t about discouraging people from going to the DMV. This is about ensuring those services are carried out in a transparent and accountable way.”
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