On May 27, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the Commonwealth of Massachusetts challenging its policy denying confidential license plates to federal agents. According to the complaint, Massachusetts has had a confidential license plate program for many years and as recently as 2025 all federal agencies were able to obtain confidential vehicle registrations and license plates from Massachusetts. The complaint claims this practice changed in 2026, when Massachusetts changed its policy and refused to issue such plates to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Governor Maura Healey’s office issued a response regarding the confidential license plates, stating “The [RMV] policy prohibits all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies primarily involved in civil investigations from obtaining confidential plates, while allowing all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies primarily involved in criminal law enforcement investigations to enroll vehicles used for criminal law enforcement purposes in the confidential registration program, so long as they identify a qualifying need to do so.” Since ICE primarily engages in civil immigration enforcement, the agency would not be eligible for confidential plates. The DOJ is requesting that the court declare Massachusetts’s confidential plate policy unconstitutional and invalid.