The state of Illinois has officially issued a legal warning to almost two dozen rental car companies that they cannot allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to tamper with license plates on rental cars to avoid detection, reported NBC News on Tuesday.
“According to documents obtained by NBC News via the Freedom of Information Act, the Illinois secretary of state’s office sent letters to at least 19 national car rental headquarters stating that they had received public complaints of immigration agents switching license plates on rented vehicles when Operation Midway Blitz, an extensive government deportation operation, was active in the Chicago area,” reported Natasha Korecki. “The letters were sent to Alamo, Enterprise, Budget, Hertz, Ace and other vehicle rental companies. They did not respond to requests for comment.”
This comes after Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias sent a cease-and-desist letter two months ago to acting ICE director Todd Lyons, warning they have received “multiple reports of federal ICE agents illegally swapping out the license plates displayed on vehicles that are registered in the State of Illinois.”
The secretary of state’s office set up a hotline last month to allow concerned citizens to report such abuse.
Per the report, the investigation into switched plates “has so far led to one license plate revocation, according to another letter obtained via the FOIA. That revocation was of a license plate belonging to a 2026 Chevy Tahoe that had been rented by immigration agents, according to a statement from the Illinois secretary of state. The rental company targeted in the Nov. 10 letter, EAN Holdings LLC., which is the parent company of Enterprise Rent-A-Car and other brands, can request a hearing to challenge the decision.”
The Department of Homeland Security has denied any illegal activity by ICE agents, saying, “Our operators comply with federal law and, consistent with the Supremacy Clause, endeavor to comply with state law except where doing so could compromise or interfere with the federal mission and operations,” and claiming that anti-Trump activists have followed agents around and harassed them in their vehicles.
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