Does Flock share data with ICE?

What Flock says

Flock's answer is no. Its explainer says the company has no contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and does not partner with ICE. It says ICE has no direct access to Flock cameras or data. According to Flock, each customer owns its data, sharing with federal agencies is off by default, and the company cannot override a local agency's choice.

Flock does have federal customers, such as national parks and Veterans Affairs hospitals. Since August 2025, it says, federal agencies have been excluded from statewide and national lookup. Their access is limited to one-to-one sharing approved by a local agency. In January 2026, Flock added one setting that turns off all federal sharing. Those are Flock's statements about how the software works. They do not establish what any particular agency did.

Flock: Does Flock share data with ICE? · Can other agencies search your city's data?

Four ways plate data can reach immigration agents

Arguments about Flock and ICE often mix up separate things. The table splits them into four paths, and each needs its own evidence. A denial about one doesn't settle the others.

Scroll horizontally to compare all columns.

What reporters and Illinois found in 2025

In May 2025, 404 Media reported more than 4,000 nationwide and statewide Flock lookups by local and state police that were done for federal agencies or had a possible immigration focus. The logs came from a records request to the Danville, Illinois police. Officers typed reasons including ICE, ICE WARRANT and immigration. Because Flock had no ICE contract, 404 Media called this side-door access.

In July 2025, the Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism, writing for VPM, counted about 50 immigration-related searches in Flock data from five Virginia counties between June 2024 and April 2025. Fairfax County police said its officers had not run the searches listed under the department's name.

In August 2025, 404 Media reported that Customs and Border Protection had regularly searched more than 80,000 Flock cameras, based on data from three police departments. One department said it did not know it was sharing with CBP.

On August 25, 2025, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said a sample audit of 12 local agencies found that Flock had let CBP reach Illinois plate data. He called that a violation of state law and ordered the access shut off. Flock was running a CBP pilot at the time.

That same day, CEO Garrett Langley wrote that some Flock statements had "inadvertently provided inaccurate information" and that federal pilots were paused. Flock's timeline now lists an HSI pilot from March 3 to May 1, 2025 and a CBP pilot from May 9 to August 24, 2025.

404 Media: ICE taps into Flock's network · Illinois Secretary of State audit release (PDF)

The University of Washington's front, back and side doors

On October 21, 2025, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights published "Leaving the Door Wide Open," based on Flock audits from Washington agencies. It identified three kinds of access. The front door is direct one-to-one sharing. The back door is a search by an agency that was never explicitly given access. The side door is a local officer searching on a federal agency's behalf.

The researchers found that at least eight Washington agencies had turned on direct sharing with U.S. Border Patrol at some point in 2025. They also found apparent back-door Border Patrol searches of at least ten police departments that had not authorized access, plus a few side-door searches.

Washington law restricts sharing for civil immigration enforcement. The UW report said officers' help to ICE in one case almost certainly broke that law. It also found gaps between Flock's audits and other records make the full scope impossible for outsiders to pin down.

UW Center for Human Rights report · Read a Flock network audit

When the local agency also does immigration work

Section 287(g) lets ICE delegate some immigration duties to state and local officers, under ICE's direction. ICE runs three models. Its task-force model lets officers use limited immigration authority during routine police work. As of October 2, 2026, ICE listed 2,617 agreements, including task-force agreements with 1,868 agencies in 33 states and two territories.

The distinction matters when checking Flock settings. The federal-sharing switch applies to federal agencies. A county sheriff with a 287(g) agreement is still a local agency, so ask about those partners separately.

In September 2026, Alexandria, Virginia's police chief said he had stopped sharing plate data with agencies holding 287(g) task-force agreements. The Alexandria Brief reported that 11 such agencies came off the city's sharing list.

ICE's 287(g) program page

Cities that cited immigration when they dropped Flock

NPR reported on February 17, 2026 that at least 30 localities had turned off Flock cameras or canceled contracts since the start of 2025, amid residents' concerns that local data could feed federal deportations. They included Flagstaff in Arizona and Santa Cruz in California. A Santa Cruz council member told NPR the city's audits showed some California departments running what looked like immigration searches.

Flock told NPR that each customer "has sole authority" over sharing. The company has added keyword filters that block immigration-related searches where state law forbids them, plus a required offense-type menu. The same council member worried that an officer could simply choose a more acceptable-sounding category.

The Ban Flock Act, released October 2, 2026, would bar federal agencies from using plate readers or the data they collect. Its sponsors' release says Flock "has shared state information with federal immigration officials" without naming a case. It is a bill, not law.

NPR: Why some cities are ditching Flock · When a city cancels Flock · Are Flock cameras legal?

How to check your own police department

Start with the agency's Flock transparency portal, if it has one. Look at the outside organizations listed as having access and check whether the portal mentions statewide or national lookup. The UW researchers found that portal lists and audits did not always match, so the portal is only a first look.

Then ask for records. Request the current sharing list, the setting history for national lookup and federal sharing, any 287(g) partners on that list, and the network audit for a date range.

In the audit, read the reason and offense fields for terms such as ICE, ERO, CBP, DHS or immigration. The reason field records what an officer typed. Treat it as a lead. It does not prove what happened next.

Request Flock audit logs · How to read a transparency portal · Find agency portals

Related guides

Can other agencies search your city's Flock camera data? · How to request your city's Flock audit logs · What is a Flock network audit, and what does a row prove? · Are Flock cameras legal? · How long does Flock keep license plate data? · All guides · Live camera map · Get the app