California AG asks judge to order El Cajon to stop sharing license plate reader data

California’s attorney general filed a motion Thursday asking a San Diego County judge to order the city of El Cajon to stop sharing its license plate reader data with out-of-state agencies.

Attorney General Rob Bonta sued El Cajon in October, alleging the city is violating Senate Bill 34, passed in 2015 to address data captured by Automated License Plate Readers, or ALPRs. The state argues that SB 34 prohibits local law enforcement from sharing data with agencies outside California, including federal agencies.

“ALPR data raises serious raises serious privacy concerns because of its ability to capture and track the movements of anyone who passes through a given area, thereby creating a database with millions of images, including individuals in vulnerable circumstances, such as undocumented individuals or people seeking reproductive care,” the motion reads, filed ahead of a Feb. 13 hearing in the case.

The motion says El Cajon’s system captured more than 682,000 vehicles in the past 30 days alone and the data can be accessed by more than 100 agencies outside California. Privacy and immigration advocates have raised concerns that the data could be used in boosting the federal government’s mass deportation effort.

“[O]nce the data leaves California, it has no protection and can easily be disseminated in violation of California law,” the motion reads.

“We are sharing that data, and we’re not doing it to be difficult. It’s a law enforcement tool,” El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said. “Many times we solve murders and saved lives by using that data. So we’re not going to stop doing it unless a judge tells us to.”

“I really look at it as the state of California being a bully and really trying to grandstand for this anti-ICE sentiment that’s out there,” he continued.

Last year, Wells championed a controversial resolution affirming the city’s support for ICE, and its intent to work with federal immigration authorities, which is largely restricted under California law.

Protesters have been gathering at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon weekly for months, with enhanced immigration enforcement top of mind.

“They’re not going after criminals, they’re pulling gardeners off the streets,” said protester George Kennedy. “They’re just basically ripping them out of the community.”

Many said they’re watching local leaders in El Cajon closely to see how they respond.

“They’re all in favor of Trump and whatever he’s doing is what they want to do,” said Suzanne Hansen.

Of the data sharing, they raised concerns.

“I think that sounds a lot like Big Brother. It’s scary to me,” Hansen said.

“The fact of what ICE does now, I don’t think they should be given any information at all,” Kennedy added.

The attorney general’s office said it sent a letter to El Cajon in August 2024 about its noncompliance, then again in August 2025 – to no response.

A California Department of Justice spokesperson said in a statement, “We sent letters to 20 cities up and down California identifying and asking them to address noncompliance with SB 34. 19 of them have worked with us to come into compliance. One of them flatly refused. That’s why we’re in court.”