California signed off earlier this summer on an agreement to share state driver’s license data with a national database. Officials said the move was needed to comply with the federal REAL ID Act.
Non-citizens are legally allowed to obtain driver’s licenses in California, and immigration and privacy advocates worried that information would be vulnerable in a national database.
CalMatters has reported the Department of Homeland Security was actively pursuing driver data from the group that manages that national database at the same time California was weighing these concerns.
“Basically, the fears of some of the advocates came to fruition here," explains reporter Wendy Fry. "So the Trump administration was already seeking access to information about 17 million commercial drivers. You know, the Department of Homeland Security said in their subpoena they specifically want these records because they want to do immigration enforcement.”
CalMatters reports that subpoena from DHS came to light because of a recent lawsuit.
A spokesperson for the national driver database that got the subpoena declined to comment. Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, which backed the data sharing, has said the concerns from advocates are overblown