This story was published in partnership with the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights, who provided data analysis.
Searches for “alien,” “overstay” and “unlawful entry.” Dozens of searches for “immigration,” and “immigration+.” More than 700 searches with just “ICE” as the reason. Hundreds of searches made by Border Patrol and Homeland Security. For the first six months of 2025, federal and out-of-state law enforcement agencies across the country searched Spokane County Flock cameras, in many cases explicitly using the technology to hunt down undocumented immigrants. In Washington, state law prevents local and state resources from being used to assist in federal immigration enforcement. But as electeds like the Spokane City Council celebrate the Keep Washington Working Act for protecting immigrants and Congressman Michael Baumgartner criticizes it for “prioritizing criminal aliens over law-abiding citizens,” the law has proven ineffectual when it comes to protecting immigrants’ data from federal overreach.As news has continued to break statewide that Washington immigrants’ data has been accessed by federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol through weak protection mechanisms at the Department of Licensing and access to local Flock networks given by agencies across the state, documents obtained by RANGE show that Spokane County is no exception. Earlier this year, we requested a network audit of all searches of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s (SCSO) Flock network made between January 1, 2025 to June 23, 2025, which shows the requesting agency, the search reason they gave, any case number attached, when they searched and how many networks and cameras they searched from. According to the audit, US Border Patrol (USBP) had direct access to search Spokane County Flock cameras through at least June 23. They used that access to search Spokane County cameras 186 times, with nine of those searches specifically looking for people in Washington.
The searches made directly by USBP are just the tip of the iceberg; reporting by 404 Media revealed that ICE had access to Flock cameras across the country through a login registered to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which performed hundreds of searches nationally during 2025.
That HSI account made 182 searches on Spokane County cameras in the first six months of 2025…