Coralville city leaders are preparing to revisit their contract with Flock Safety license plate reader cameras as residents urge officials to remove the cameras over privacy and immigration concerns.

The city council will reconsider the use of Flock cameras after Iowa Attorney General’s Office requested the Coralville drops its policy limiting the use of the cameras for immigration enforcement. 

Flock cameras, also known as automated license plate readers, are mounted near roads and capture images of license plates and vehicle details such as make and color. The information is stored in a searchable database used by law enforcement to locate stolen vehicles or assist investigations.

The Feb. 10 meeting was not the first time residents pushed back. Previous meetings have included protests and public comment, with some community members voicing opposition to the cameras for months. At the most recent council meeting, the message from the public was unanimous: remove the Flock cameras.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa argues that without strict rules, the technology can be misused or accessed for reasons unrelated to public safety. The organization has called for clear limits on who can access the data, how long it is stored, and how it can be shared.

“We are asking for sensible guidelines,” Veronica Fowler, communications director for the ACLU of Iowa, said. 

Fowler said the group is not opposed to technology that helps solve crimes but wants stronger safeguards to protect residents’ privacy and prevent overreach.

Automated License Plate Readers are used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to scan plates and track vehicles. According to AP News, the Trump administration’s $2.7 billion budget increase for border patrol to expand a border surveillance system is increasing the agency’s surveillance capabilities and Flock camera data has been searched and used for immigration enforcement investigations around the country.  

In Evanston, Illinois, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias discovered that Flock had allowed border patrol to access cameras in a “pilot program” against state law. Evanston terminated the contract on Sept. 18. The cameras were covered with plastic by Evanston city staff  and are no longer recording information. 

In Coralville, the Flock contract controversy intensified after Coralville received letters from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office on Dec. 16, 2025, questioning whether the city’s license plate reader policy complies with Iowa’s immigration law.

Under Iowa law, cities are not allowed to adopt policies that “prohibit or discourage” the enforcement of immigration laws or restrict how law enforcement works with federal immigration officials. 

Solicitor General Eric Wessan, said in the first letter on sent on Dec. 16. 2025,  the city must remove a “Strict Access” statement on its website and delete a section of policy that bans using license plate reader data solely for immigration purposes. 

Coralville city attorney, Kevin D. Olson, wrote back to the state on Jan. 15, 2026. In the letter he cited  Section 414 of the Department Policy Manual that states, “Members shall honor an immigration detainer request issued by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement and comply with any related instructions,” and said that the “Strict Access” statement would be removed. The statement is no longer on the website. 

In a follow-up letter on Jan. 20, Solicitor General Eric Wessan said the state found Coralville’s policies mostly comply with the law and noted the city confirmed it honors federal immigration detainer requests.

The letter also pointed out that Coralville’s contract with Flock requires the city to follow all federal, state, and local laws, including immigration law.

Wessan asked the city to make the changes within 30 days. Once the city confirms the update, he wrote in his letter over email, the complaint will be closed with no further action.

Many Coralville residents have said, however, the technology will do more harm than good.

“I’m here to ask you to remove the Flock cameras,” Judy McRoberts, a Coralville resident of 40 years, said at community comment. “The cameras now represent a danger to our immigrant families and those who
support them.”

McRoberts said she believed the council originally aimed to protect residents, but that state and federal actions changed the situation. She urged the city to stop collecting data that could be used against community members.

Former council member Jill Dodds said she once trusted the city’s safeguards.

“These are the privacy protections you put in place,” Dodds said, referring to Policy 427, which limited data use, including for immigration enforcement. 

She called the attorney general’s request to remove parts of the policy government overreach and urged council members to stand
with constituents.

Other residents questioned how much control Coralville has over data once it is collected, including Dan Wohlers, a Coralville resident of 25 years, who said the promises made when the program began are no longer holding up. He said canceling the contract could cost the city about $36,000, but questioned whether that financial concern should outweigh community trust.

“The state is effectively demanding that Coralville leave the door wide open for federal agencies like ICE,” Wohlers said.

Coralville City Councilor Mike Knudson said his concerns about the cameras are tied to immigration enforcement and how the national climate has shifted since Coralville approved the program.

Knudson said he was concerned about the timing of implementing the Flock system, given current immigration enforcement and federal policy. He said he did not expect the situation to escalate as much as it has.

“I really, at that time last fall, I had no idea how far it would go,” Knudson said.

Knudson said those developments have shaped how he views the program and signaled openness to reconsidering it.

Councilor Hai Huynh spoke about her perspective as an immigrant. She saud the current climate has left many residents feeling vulnerable. 

“As an immigrant, I am not safe. I have never been safe,” Huynh said.

Huynh said declining the technology does not mean opposing police.

“Support doesn’t mean blindly signing the paper and call it good,” she said.

She also addressed the financial side, saying the roughly $36,000 cost to end the contract “is not worth any human life.” Huynh said she wants the contract brought back to the agenda and the cameras physically removed.

Councilors did not vote Feb. 10, but several said they want the issue placed on an upcoming agenda.