Neighbors have reported federal immigration agents in Fremont several times in recent months, and a University of Washington report released Tuesday shows how many of these stops begin: with a license plate lookup.
Eyewitness accounts were posted in recent weeks in the Wallingford & Fremont Community Facebook group. The most recent post on Oct. 13 was a video of federal agents breaking a car window during an arrest in the Emmanuel Church parking lot at Phinney Avenue N. and N. 49th Street.
It happened across from KapKa Cooperative Elementary School as families arrived for drop-off. The Seattle Times also reported the arrest, noting it’s unclear why the man was detained. A hand-made sign now hangs on a tree across the street from the church.
“Across the country, traffic stops have become an increasingly frequent, visible, and violent means of immigration enforcement by ICE/CBP/DHS,” the UW Center for Human Rights researchers said in the report. “In many cases, these arrests are directly or indirectly facilitated by state Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMV), through the sharing of driver and vehicle data in a process known as the DMV-to-DHS pipeline.”
Here’s how the pipeline works: An agent spots a vehicle, runs the plate through Nlets to pull Department of Licensing records, and cross-checks the owner’s name against federal databases, often executing an arrest within minutes or hours. (Nlets is a national law enforcement data-sharing network used by every state.)
The center has confirmed 356 cases linked to these searches between Aug. 1, 2025, and Oct. 13, 2026. Angelina Godoy, the center’s director, said at a livestreamed news conference Tuesday that 356 “is likely only a small fraction of the total cases.”
State law already bars agencies from sharing personal information for civil immigration enforcement. Washington has blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from these searches, but not every federal agency. The report found agents switching to other agencies’ accounts to get around the blocks.
“This game of whack-a-mole is not providing meaningful protection for Washingtonians’ data,” the report concluded.
During Tuesday’s news conference, advocates urged Gov. Bob Ferguson to act quickly. According to a report from The Seattle Times, Ferguson said in a statement that his office is looking at what other states have done and how to lawfully require judicial warrants for civil immigration-related requests.
The Fremont Neighborhood Council will host the ACLU of Washington at its next meeting Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Doric Lodge, 619 N. 36th St. Local rapid response organizers plan to gather after the meeting to sign up volunteers.
Citywide Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck shared several know-your-rights resources in her latest newsletter. U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s office has a Know Your Rights page with printable cards in 19 languages.
The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network runs a hotline for reporting ICE activity at 1-844-724-3737.
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