The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada announced a lawsuit against the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for failing to disclose public records related to potential collaboration with federal immigration officers. 

In the Thursday lawsuit, the ACLU said the DMV had failed to turn over correspondence between the agency and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in response to multiple public records requests since February. After sending a formal demand letter through the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, the Nevada DMV turned over heavily redacted and incomplete documents.

Exhibits the ACLU released Friday show email exchanges between the DMV and ICE where someone with an ICE email address gave the DMV the names, date of birth and driver’s license numbers of three individuals they were looking for, asking the DMV to turn over photos and information related to the three individuals. 

The ACLU further said the records suggest there was a chat on Signal — an encrypted messaging platform known for its enhanced security — between staff at ICE and the Nevada DMV, which has never been disclosed to the public. 

“The DMV and ICE have remained in communication, have seemingly been collaborative,” ACLU Executive Director Athar Haseebullah said during a press conference. 

The DMV did not immediately return a request for comment.

In an email between the agency and the ACLU, they said that “there are no records of memoranda, policies, trainings or guidelines in effect related to collaboration with immigration and customs (ICE) officers. The reason there are no policies is because we do not work with ICE.”

However, in another email exchange between the DMV and ICE, a DMV representative wrote, “we have confirmed that there are no faxes or Signal messages responsive to your request. Our research indicates that Signal is not a DMV-managed application and one of which our agency has never had access to, therefore no additional communications would be stored there.”

Nevada is one of 19 states that allow undocumented people to get driver’s licenses, known as driver authorization cards. Those cards allow people who cannot meet proof of identity requirements for a standard license to still drive. It is not valid identification to obtain benefits or services for federal purposes, according to the Nevada DMV website. 

It was unclear whether the information that the DMV shared with ICE was related to driver authorization cards because the exchanges were heavily redacted, Haseebullah said.

During President Donald Trump’s first administration, it was revealed that at least three states shared drivers’ immigration information with ICE. Then Nevada DMV spokeswoman Brandi Alexandra Smith told the online outlet Governing that it does not release any information relating to immigration status, nationality or citizenship from license application files. She further said that state law prevents the DMV from sharing information with any other agencies “for the purpose of immigration.”

During the 82nd legislative session in 2023, Assm. Max Carter (D-Las Vegas) introduced AB407, which would eventually become the state law prohibiting the DMV from sharing personal information regarding a license, identification card or vehicle registration to federal entities for immigration enforcement. 

“We brought AB407 to give some confidence to our communities that due process would be followed,” Carter said. 

He called the communications between the DMV and ICE "disappointing,” and noted Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo approved the law in 2023. 

A spokesperson for the governor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“It's eroding that belief that the government respects the people who live here,” Carter said about the need to enact a law preventing state agencies from sharing personal information.

The only exceptions to the law are if the requester submits a written release from the person or the DMV director releases the information pursuant to a lawful court order, subpoena or warrant.

Without an act from Congress, the DMV is required to follow Nevada’s law, said Christopher Peterson, the ACLU’s legal director. 

“When it comes to immigration enforcement, the federal government can't make the state help them. They can't force them to do it,” said Sadmira Ramic, an ACLU attorney. 

Under the Privacy Act of 1974, federal agencies are supposed to tell the public how they intend to use and safeguard personal data before they begin collecting it. They are not supposed to use data beyond the intended purpose.

The lawsuit is the latest pushback against increasing collaboration between ICE and state officials. Last Friday, The Indy broke news that the state's national guard was authorized to help ICE with administrative tasks. Earlier that week, Nevada landed on a federal list of “sanctuary states” despite having no laws prohibiting collaboration between state officials and federal immigration agents. 

Several police departments, including Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, have active partnerships with ICE, through which local officers are deputized to carry out federal immigration enforcement duties. 

In June, The Indy filed a similar public records request with the DMV. The agency said that the request was “exempt from disclosure” as “any information between DHS and our compliance division are on-going cases, which are not public records and cannot be released.”

Updated on 8/15/2025 at 12:32 p.m. with additional comments and exhibits from the lawsuit.