Data access/immigration enf.

AN ACT Relating to creating a firewall against federal 1
authorities misusing driver, vehicle, and other personal information 2
for civil immigration enforcement purposes; adding new sections to 3
chapter 46.01 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.43 RCW; 4
creating new sections; and declaring an emergency. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that Washington 7
state has a thriving workforce, economy, and quality of life, in 8
part, because of the strong and diverse immigrant communities 9
throughout the state.10
(2) The legislature also finds that federal immigration agencies 11
have been inappropriately targeting individuals solely for civil 12
immigration purposes by accessing information contained in state 13
databases and law enforcement systems. 14
(3) The legislature finds that this runs contrary to the values 15
of our state that places high importance on the rights and dignity of 16
all of its residents. 17
(4) The legislature, therefore, intends to create a firewall 18
against this information being used by federal agencies for this 19
illegal purpose and require the relevant state agencies to redouble 20
their efforts by putting additional safeguards in place.21
S-6046.1
SENATE BILL 6361
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Hasegawa and Chapman
Read first time 03/11/26. Referred to Committee on Transportation.
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NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 46.01 1
RCW to read as follows: 2
The definitions in this section apply to sections 3 through 6 of 3
this act unless the context clearly requires otherwise.4
(1) "ACCESS data system" means the Washington state patrol owned 5
and operated data system by which criminal investigation information, 6
vehicle license information, and other law enforcement information is 7
exchanged. 8
(2) "Civil immigration enforcement purposes" includes, but is not 9
limited to, enforcement activities related to a civil immigration 10
warrant for a violation of federal civil immigration law issued by a 11
federal immigration authority. A "civil immigration warrant" 12
includes, but is not limited to, administrative warrants issued on 13
forms I-200 or I-203, or their successor forms, and civil immigration 14
warrants entered in the national crime information center database.15
(3) "Court order" means a directive issued by a judge or 16
magistrate under the authority of Article III of the United States 17
Constitution or Article IV of the Washington state Constitution. A 18
"court order" includes, but is not limited to, warrants and 19
subpoenas. 20
(4) "DAPS" means the driver and plate search system maintained by 21
the department. 22
(5) "DIAS" means the system operated by the department that 23
allows courts to electronically access and update state driver 24
records. 25
(6) "Federal immigration authority" means any officer, employee, 26
or person otherwise paid by or acting as an agent of the United 27
States department of homeland security including, but not limited to, 28
its subagencies, immigration and customs enforcement, and customs and 29
border protection, and any present or future divisions thereof, 30
charged with immigration enforcement. 31
(7) "Immigration or citizenship status" means the status 32
established relative to an individual under the immigration and 33
nationality act. 34
(8) "Nlets" means a not-for-profit computer-based message 35
switching system that links together state, local, and federal law 36
enforcement, justice, and public safety agencies for the purposes of 37
sharing and exchanging information. 38
(9) "Personal information" includes, but is not limited to, name, 39
age, residential address, social security number, immigration or 40
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citizenship status, employer, employer address, or any other 1
information used to prove identity or lawful presence.2
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 46.01 3
RCW to read as follows: 4
(1) Except as required for the department to issue or renew a 5
driver's license or learner's permit, under chapters 46.20 and 46.25 6
RCW to meet federal standards, the department shall not disclose or 7
make accessible in any manner records or information to a federal 8
immigration authority, unless the department receives a valid court 9
order. 10
(2) Upon receiving a court order that requires providing records 11
or information to a federal immigration authority, the department 12
must notify the individual about whom such information was requested 13
informing the individual of the request and the identity of agency 14
making the request within three days from when the request was made.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 46.01 16
RCW to read as follows: 17
(1) By October 1, 2026, the department must adopt rules requiring 18
all data-sharing agreements, providing access to DAPS, DIAS, or any 19
other system containing s driver's license, vehicle registration, or 20
other personal information that the federal, state, or local 21
governmental agency, or nongovernmental entity or person, contain a 22
certification that the agency, entity, or person will not use such 23
records or information for civil immigration enforcement purposes.24
(2) The department must continually monitor, audit, and review 25
compliance with the adopted rules and associated data sharing for 26
misuse. If the department has any indication that the information 27
being accessed is being used for civil immigration enforcement 28
purposes, either directly or indirectly, without a valid court order, 29
the department must immediately terminate access to the federal, 30
state, or local governmental agency, or nongovernmental entity or 31
person. The department must forward information on the misuse to the 32
attorney general's office for appropriate action. 33
(3) The department, jointly with the Washington state patrol, 34
must develop protocols to ensure that the ACCESS data system, 35
Washington state information provided through Nlets, DAPS, DIAS, and 36
other systems are not accessible to a federal immigration authority, 37
unless required by a valid court order. 38
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(4)(a) Beginning October 1, 2026, and each year thereafter, the 1
department, jointly with the Washington state patrol, must submit a 2
report to the governor's office and the appropriate policy and fiscal 3
committees of the legislature detailing actions the department has 4
taken in the prior 12 months to ensure compliance with this act, 5
chapter 440, Laws of 2019, and the Governor's executive order 25-09. 6
The report must also contain information by federal, state, and local 7
agencies, on: 8
(i) The number of queries on Washington driver's license or 9
identicard and vehicle registrations information in DAPS and DIAS;10
(ii) The number of queries received from the Nlets system and 11
ACCESS data system terminals, of Washington driver's license, 12
identicard, and vehicle records, including data identifying the 13
number of incoming queries. The number of queries from state and 14
local agencies outside of Washington may be grouped by state;15
(iii) Those that were approved, provided, utilized, and denied 16
access to the ACCESS data system, Nlets, DAPS, and DIAS.17
(b) By January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, the governor's 18
office must hold at least two public meetings on the statistics and 19
information submitted in the reports. At least one of these public 20
meetings must be held on the east side of the state and at least one 21
of these meetings must be held on the west side of the state.22
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 43.43 23
RCW to read as follows: 24
(1) By October 1, 2026, the Washington state patrol must adopt 25
rules and policies that restrict any federal, state, or local 26
governmental agency or nongovernmental entity from using the ACCESS 27
data system and Nlets for civil immigration enforcement purposes.28
(2) The Washington state patrol must continually monitor, audit, 29
and review compliance with the adopted rules and policies for misuse. 30
If the Washington state patrol has any indication that the 31
information being accessed is being used for civil immigration 32
enforcement purposes, either directly or indirectly, without a valid 33
court order, the Washington state patrol must immediately terminate 34
access to the federal, state, or local governmental agency or 35
nongovernmental entity or person. The Washington state patrol must 36
forward information on the misuse to the attorney general's office 37
for appropriate action. 38
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(3) The Washington state patrol, jointly with the department of 1
licensing, must develop protocols to ensure that the ACCESS data 2
system, Washington state information provided through Nlets, DAPS, 3
DIAS, and other systems are not accessible to a federal immigration 4
authority, unless required by a valid court order. 5
(4)(a) Beginning October 1, 2026, and each year thereafter, the 6
Washington state patrol, jointly with the department, must submit a 7
report to the governor's office and the appropriate policy and fiscal 8
committees of the legislature detailing actions the Washington state 9
patrol has taken in the prior 12 months to ensure compliance with 10
this act, chapter 440, Laws of 2019, and the governor's executive 11
order 25-09. The report must also contain information by federal, 12
state, and local agencies, on: 13
(i) The number of queries on Washington driver's license or 14
identicard and vehicle registrations information in DAPS and DIAS;15
(ii) The number of queries received from the Nlets system and 16
ACCESS data system terminals, of Washington driver's license, 17
identicard, and vehicle records, including data identifying the 18
number of incoming queries. The number of queries from state and 19
local agencies outside of Washington may be grouped by state;20
(iii) Those that were approved, provided, utilized, and denied 21
access to the ACCESS data system, Nlets, DAPS, and DIAS.22
(b) By January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, the governor's 23
office must hold at least two public meetings on the statistics and 24
information submitted in the reports. At least one of these public 25
meetings must be held on the east side of the state and at least one 26
of these meetings must be held on the west side of the state.27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act is exempt from the rule of strict 28
construction, and shall be liberally construed to give full effect to 29
the objective and purpose of protecting personal privacy and 30
preventing the misuse of information in state databases for civil 31
immigration enforcement purposes.32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This act may be known and cited as the 33
Washington federal firewall act.34
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. This act is necessary for the immediate 35
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 36
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the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 1
effect immediately. 2
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