{"id":399,"date":"2026-05-15T15:05:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=399"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:05:47","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:05:47","slug":"healey-administration-has-barred-ice-from-getting-undercover-license-plates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=399","title":{"rendered":"Healey administration has barred ICE from getting undercover license plates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Trump administration threatened to sue Massachusetts, charging that the Healey administration has refused to issue confidential license plates through the Registry of Motor Vehicles to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In a letter to Governor Maura Healey on Tuesday, US Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said the RMV won\u2019t issue confidential registration and license plates to ICE officers, while providing them \u201cwithout restrictions\u201d to other federal and state agencies. Shumate said the RMV is issuing them to Homeland Security Investigations,but only after they certify that the vehicles will only be used in criminal investigations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis discriminatory policy is not only deeply dangerous as a matter of public safety but also blatantly unlawful as a matter of constitutional law,\u201d Shumate wrote. \u201cIt should be immediately withdrawn; otherwise, the United States intends to seek judicial relief.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jacqueline Manning, a Healey spokesperson, said the administration will not allow state resources to be used \u201cto help ICE operate in secret while they are violating people\u2019s rights and making us all less safe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny federal, state, or local agency engaging in legitimate criminal law enforcement work can receive a confidential plate. We all know that\u2019s not what ICE is doing,\u201dManning said. \u201cThis is an agency that can\u2019t and won\u2019t even tell us who they are arresting and why. We are not going to enable their tactics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trump administration said the RMV\u2019s policy undermines investigations, including probes into \u201cserious federal crimes.\u201d The investigations, Shumate told Healey, often require covert surveillance and undercover activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf federal law enforcement vehicles are readily identifiable, either by a government plate or through a state plate and registration that is subject to public exposure through an information request, then officers, their families, and people under their protection will all be at risk,\u201d Shumate said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manning, the Healey spokesperson, said allowing ICE vehicles to have a confidential registration would conceal the identity of the car\u2019s owner in law enforcement and state databases, and could also hinder traffic stops.<\/span><\/p>\n

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ICE can use non-confidential plates, Healey\u2019s office said, which will not risk \u201cdoxing\u201d or the disclosure of a federal agent\u2019s identity when driving a vehicle because it only permits state and local law enforcement to see details about the driver and vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shumate said the RMV\u2019s policy is unconstitutional. In his letter, he gave the Healey administration until May 22 to rescind the policy and start issuing undercover plates to all federal law enforcement agents.<\/span><\/p>\n

The warning from the Trump administration sets the stage for another showdown between the president and elected Democrats in Massachusetts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s Department of Justice has already filed a lawsuit challenging Boston\u2019s policies of limiting local police\u2019s cooperation with federal immigration authorities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Healey, who is seeking reelection this year, has also been a vocal critic of the president\u2019s immigration agenda, and has pushed legislation that would ban federal immigration officers from entering churches, schools, courthouses and other sensitive locations.<\/span><\/p>\n

The latest threat of legal action comes after the Trump administration conducted multiple, large-scale immigration sweeps in Massachusetts over the past year that netted thousands of arrests and prompted advocates to call for restrictions on ICE activity in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Trump administration threatened to sue Massachusetts, charging that the Healey administration has refused to issue confidential license plates through the Registry of Motor Vehicles to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nHealey administration has barred ICE from getting undercover license plates - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=399\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Healey administration has barred ICE from getting undercover license plates - 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