By Jake Goldstein-Street | Reporter
Advocates gathered in Seattle on Tuesday to continue their push for Washington state officials to do more to restrict the ability of the feds to get information from a license plate database, which has been an ongoing area of concern since 2018.
“We need you to act and slow down this mass deportation and detention machine by continuing to cut off access to the Department of Licensing data that is being used for immigration enforcement,” said Lucía Vázquez Martínez, field director for Service Employees International Union 775.
Gov. Bob Ferguson noted his administration has acted to curb unfettered access to the state’s data, but said he’ll look for more ways to adapt the state’s policies.
Also in today’s edition…
• The state won’t enforce limits on some campaign spending.
• What we know and don’t know about the federal election monitors.
• And, a no-limits fundraising battle in the Oregon governor’s race.
News tips, feedback, questions? Email us: [email protected]
A masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent knocks on a car window in Minnesota on Jan. 12. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
By Jake Goldstein-Street
University of Washington researchers connected 356 arrests to federal queries for license data between August 2025 and Oct. 13 of this year. In the first five months of this year, agencies housed under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security searched state Department of Licensing driver and vehicle data over 1 million times, according to the university’s Center for Human Rights.
Washington is one of 19 states that offer driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status. Others require warrants or court orders for federal agencies to access state-held license and vehicle data for immigration purposes, according to the UW researchers. Washington does not.
Ferguson spokesperson Brionna Aho said Tuesday that “our team is reviewing what other states have done, and what is lawful, to require judicial warrants for civil immigration-related requests.”
By Jerry Cornfield
Washington state law limits contributions a committee can accept or a candidate can give themself in a short but critical period of time — seven days before a primary and 21 days before a general election. It sets the bar at $75,000 for those seeking legislative seats and statewide office, and $7,500 for a political committee or candidate running for a local office.
The state Public Disclosure Commission lifted those caps so legislative and Supreme Court candidates can spend as much of their own money on their campaigns in the final days of this election. And the commission is also not enforcing caps on how much money political committees not tied to a ballot measure can accept in the run-up to next week’s election.
Though the commission decision was the product of a public conversation that began earlier this year, its timing so close to the Nov. 3 election vexed election professionals and political observers. Some warned it enables large sums of money to flow to political committees actively engaged in supporting and opposing candidates on Tuesday’s ballot.
By Jonathan Shorman
The Department of Justice will have a presence in all 50 states on Election Day. DOJ spokesperson Kiersten Pels says that about 1,000 monitors will be involved but that the department won’t disclose the full list of monitored locations until Election Day. In Washington, they’ll at least be in King County.
By Shaanth Nanguneri
Oregon was for a long time one of the last few states without any limits on political campaign contributions. But in 2024, the state Legislature passed a law backed by campaign finance reform advocates that sets a $3,300 limit on the amount of money individuals can give per candidate per election cycle. Membership organizations, such as trade groups, nonprofits and labor unions, will be able to give up to $26,400 per two-year election cycle to statewide candidates and less to legislative candidates.
This year, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek and her Republican challenger state Sen. Christine Drazan have collectively raised more than $40 million in donations.
ICYMI
Feds allege over 400 noncitizens vote in WA; Hobbs disputes data | by Jake Goldstein-Street
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