USA: Illinois tackles ICE feds who conceal their licence plates
The state of Illinois is trying to tackle the problem of federal officers who attempt to conceal their identities, and those of their vehicles, by swapping, removing or obscuring licence plates.
The controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has attracted wide criticism for its allegedly brutal, reckless and possibly illegal conduct. ICE has reportedly been taking people off the streets by force in their mission to target illegal immigrants. Friends, family members and witnesses claim that some of the people taken have completely disappeared, including some people who are US citizens. ICE agents have frequently been filmed wearing facemasks, and capturing people by seemingly violent force.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has launched a “Plate Watch” hotline and has asked the public to use the line to report ICE vehicles that appear to lack valid licence plates, including those where plates have been removed, replaced or covered.
At the launch announcement, Secretary of State Giannoulias showed a social media video in which an ICE officer told a protester that they could take as many photographs as they liked, as the vehicle's plates were swapped every day.
A spokesperson from Mr Giannoulias' office also stated that the secretary of state had received anonymous reports of several kinds of licence plate violations including a vehicle displaying different plates at the front and rear, vehicles with no licence plates at all, plates that are partially obscured and vehicles changing plates from day to day, as described by the ICE officer in the video. The spokesperson said that each of those instances would be a violation of Illinois law.
In a statement, Mr Giannoulias said, “Swapping out license plates or tampering with them to avoid or conceal detection is illegal, unsafe and will not be tolerated in Illinois.
“No one, including federal agents, is above the law, and we intend to hold them accountable, especially while driving on our roadways. This is a matter of public safety and protecting the wellbeing of our communities.”
NBC News reported that an NBC team had seen a law enforcement truck parked outside an immigration arrest processing facility. It was not clear to which law enforcement agency was responsible for the vehicle, but it did not display a front license plate and part of the rear plate was obscured by tape.
USA: Idaho's plate censorship blocks sex, drugs and crime
The Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles has issued more than 590,000 licence plates in total, including 65,524 vanity plates (American for private number plates). The the DMV has revealed that from January to October 2025, it rejected more than 600 requests for personalised licence plates.
Any Idaho resident can request custom license plates comprising from one to seven characters, including spaces. The plates cannot contain punctuation marks, special (non-alphanumeric) characters or the letter O. It is also possible to choose from several, optional, special designs. The available designs include plates promoting the timber industry, snowmobiles, native wildlife and college pride. There’s even a version advertising Idaho’s “World Famous Potatoes.”
The list of plates that will be declined if requested are those featuring language with a sexual connotation; language considered obscene, contemptible, prejudiced, hostile or insulting, or profanity; language considered racially or ethnically degrading; references to bodily functions or fluids; intimate body parts; sexual preference or orientation; acts of violence; illegal substances, and language representative of a group “commonly known to promote violence, illegal substances or illegal acts.”
Plates applications that were refused included 1DA H0E, N0TDAH0 and YUTHAH0 (all based on a popular state-based joke. You'll have to use your imaginations). Also, 0F0XGVN, 0MGFNG0, 5HIT5HW, 1BDBTCH, BDASM0M, DUCK0FF, FTHMKDS, EFFGAS, 1FA2F0, FIGHTME, CRDKLR, HTNRUN, KLMALL, RUN0VRU, VI0LENT and many more.
UAE: Smart licence plates go under the hammer
On October 24, 2025, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced 300 electronic licence plates were being made available for vehicles in the emirate. The brand-new electronic and smart licence plates, for private and classic vehicles, will display 81 licence letters from A to Z.
The release process began with an electronic license plate exhibition on October 27, at the RTA's headquarters. The exhibition was followed by an auction that also opened for registration on October 27 and bidding began on November 3 for five days.
Bidders were required to have a valid traffic file in Dubai and to deposit an AED 5,000 dirham security cheque made out to the RTA. Winners of the auction must settle their dues within ten working days of the auction’s close.
The new license plates are intended to improve traffic monitoring across Dubai and are expected to help reduce traffic violations by an estimated 5%. They are expected to facilitate better electronic monitoring, making it easier to track vehicles and enforce road safety regulations.
The introduction of the smart licence plates is part of Dubai's wider mission to become one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world.
Republic of Ireland: Gardai target non-compliant number plates
The Republic of Ireland's police service, An Garda Síochána, has cracked down on car number plates that don't comply with the country's number plate regulations. Drivers found to be displaying illegal plates could be issued with a €60 fixed charge notice by gardai, but the Irish Revenue Commissioners, whose officers sometimes accompany gardai at checkpoints across Ireland, can levy fines of up to €5,000.
A Garda spokesperson said: “Non-conforming Irish registration plates include those that use custom or non-standard fonts, have incorrect sizes, colours, or spacing, omit the EU flag or ‘IRL’ identifier, or are designed to defeat ANPR systems.
“Drivers are reminded that each non-regulation, missing, or obscured plate can result in a €60 Fixed Charge Notice per plate.
“All registration plates must meet Irish format and visibility standards.”
Ireland's rules regarding the physical plates used to display registration numbers are different in several respects from those in the UK. Whereas UK plates have black characters on a white background on the front of the vehicle and black characters on a yellow background at the rear, plates in the Republic of Ireland use a white background for both front and rear. Irish number plates may be made of acrylic plastic or stamped, painted aluminium.
There is no standardised font for the characters on Irish plates, but the Metro font is particularly popular. Irish number plates do not contain spaces: instead, hyphens or dashes are used to separate character groups.
The name of the county of registration must be displayed in Irish (Gaeilge); for example, Baile Átha Cliath for Dublin or Dún na nGall for County Donegal. The EU flag and the letters “IRL” must be placed on the left-hand side of the plate.
