ICE accesses AI license plate reader network without formal contract
ICE reportedly accessed Flock Safety's nationwide AI-powered license plate camera network indirectly through local and state law enforcement agencies without a formal contract, conducting over 4,000 immigration-related searches between June 2024 and May 2025. The arrangement violated Illinois law and Flock's policies, which prohibit using license plate reader data for immigration enforcement, and raised concerns about mass surveillance with limited oversight.
What happened
ICE accessed Flock Safety's nationwide license plate camera network through indirect requests routed via local and state law enforcement agencies, without a formal direct contract with Flock. Data from Danville, Illinois, revealed over 4,000 lookups between June 2024 and May 2025 listing reasons such as 'immigration,' 'ICE+ERO' or 'ICE WARRANT,' with searches conducted by agencies across dozens of states including Texas, Florida, Missouri and Arizona.
Local police officers often acted on informal requests from federal ICE agents to conduct searches in the Flock system. According to Flock's documentation, the company's 'National Lookup' tool allows agencies to query camera data from jurisdictions nationwide.
Reported impact
Civil liberties advocates reported that the informal data sharing enables mass surveillance with little oversight. The Flock Safety system operates over 40,000 automatic license plate reader cameras in more than 5,000 U.S. communities, allowing officers to track vehicle movements over time often without needing a warrant.
Index analysis
Illinois law prohibits law enforcement from using ALPR data for immigration enforcement, and Flock's own policies forbid such use. However, audit data showed that ICE and its Enforcement and Removal Operations division were able to utilize the system through state and local police indirectly.
The company claims that local users control the data and decide who can access it, although critics argue that the audit logs suggest limited oversight. Some officers said the 'immigration' tag may have been used in error or for unrelated criminal probes.
Governance controls
ICE has no direct agreement with Flock Safety but accessed the system through search requests routed via local and state law enforcement. The informal arrangement circumvented what would otherwise require a formal contract and oversight mechanisms.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.