Report: WA Dept. of Licensing gives drivers' info to immigration authorities

Washington state licensing officials say the department has regularly been providing photos and driver's license applications upon request to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Washington's Department of Licensing is among a minority of such agencies around the country to allow people living in the country without legal permission to get driver's licenses.

The Seattle Times reports 20 to 30 times a month, the department has been giving residents' personal information to federal immigration-enforcement officers — information used to arrest and deport people in keeping with the president's policies.

Gov. Jay Inslee ordered the practice halted immediately and his spokeswoman told the newspaper that Inslee hadn't been aware of the extent of the information sharing.

The department's practices seemingly contradict Inslee's promise when he signed an executive order last year that Washington remains a state that "doesn't utilize state employees as agents of the federal immigration services."

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Associated Press