LAS VEGAS – The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has filed a new motion asking a judge to order the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to produce more than 100 documents the agency has continued to withhold from the ACLU of Nevada and to permit live testimony of DMV officials tied to how those records were handled.
The motion, filed in the First Judicial District Court, argues that the DMV violated the Nevada Public Records Act by refusing to turn over documents it admitted are responsive to the ACLU of Nevada’s records requests without providing any legal justification for withholding them. In a March 3 court filing, the DMV disclosed that it had unlawfully withheld 110 documents. Of those, the agency handed over just seven, refusing to identify the remaining 103 or respond to the organization’s request for a legal explanation.
The motion also asks the court to allow oral testimony from DMV officials, citing conflicting and inaccurate statements made by the agency in court filings and prior proceedings regarding its recordkeeping practices, including the use of the encrypted messaging platform Signal.
The motion follows ongoing litigation brought by the ACLU of Nevada after the agency delayed, redacted, and withheld records related to its communications with ICE. During the pendency of the litigation, the DMV, on multiple occasions, denied cooperating with ICE and denied using Signal to communicate with ICE in open court. After the February hearing, DMV officials and an attorney for the agency submitted new affidavits confirming that the agency has been in communication with ICE, and that it has done so via Signal, raising serious questions about transparency and truthfulness. The case is ACLU of Nevada v. Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles, Case No. 25 EW00026 1B.
ACLU of Nevada executive director Athar Haseebullah said:
“At this point, it’s clear that the DMV has no interest in complying with Nevada law and won’t do so of its own accord. Oddly, I can’t truly determine whether the agency is intentionally misleading the public or is so grossly incompetent that it can’t even get its own story straight, but the reality is that either outcome is beyond problematic for Nevadans, and the agency’s violations of the law are on plain display. The DMV has identified over 100 responsive documents that it has not turned over without justification, shifted stories on its collaboration with ICE multiple times, and provided conflicting information about how it conducts public business. This is a textbook example of the government doing everything it can to evade accountability. After the most recent hearing, in which the DMV denied communicating with ICE via Signal, the DMV submitted affidavits from its own staff clarifying that it did communicate with ICE officials via Signal. The agency is now asking the public to believe that they’ve done so to communicate about matters other than immigration and customs enforcement, as if ICE serves 100 other purposes. The court should allow us the opportunity to question DMV officials under oath and get to the bottom of this. There should be nothing for those officials to be concerned about if everyone at the DMV operated transparently.”
About ACLU of Nevada v. Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles
ACLU of Nevada submitted public records requests to the Nevada DMV seeking any records related to its coordination with ICE. For months, the DMV refused to turn over any documents, and only after sending a formal demand letter did the agency provide a limited number of heavily redacted and incomplete records. The records produced missed entire email chains and other referenced communications. Despite the redactions, the records revealed undisclosed cooperation with ICE, including requests for personal data such as address and vehicle registration information. The records also indicated that the DMV may have communicated with ICE via Signal, an encrypted messaging app with auto-delete features and no recovery mechanism — something the DMV now admits did occur. Entire email chains and other referenced communications were missing.
ACLU of Nevada is seeking a court order demanding the release of all requested records in compliance with Nevada law. Nevadans have a right to know the extent to which their government is cooperating with ICE, and the DMV has a legal duty to be transparent with the public.
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