Washington licensing says it hasn't shared info with ICE since 2018

Washington officials insist the state does not share driver's license data with immigration officials.

This come after recent reports raised questions about the state's practice.

Gigi Zenk, a spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Licensing, said when any law enforcement agency comes to them for data, it goes through several layers of scrutiny.

"We do this to ultimately determine if any kind of request is related to immigration. If so, we certainly would not cooperate," Zenk said.

But if requests are not immigration related, Zenk said they can provide limited information with a court order.

The department did say they’ve received 53 requests from state and federal agencies since 2013, all of which had court orders. Four were from immigration agents.

Reporting from The Seattle Times in 2017 revealed the state was routinely sharing data with ICE. That prompted DOL to change its policy. Since 2018, the department says it has not responded to any immigration requests.

ICE in turn says it “does not comment on investigation techniques, but has the ability to collaborate with local, federal and international agencies.”