EFF Sues DHS and ICE to Force Release of Records on Use of Customs Subpoena Power

The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, seeking to force the release of records about the agencies’ use of a customs-law administrative subpoena power to identify anonymous online critics, people tracking ICE activity and protest attendees.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, centers on DHS and ICE use of administrative subpoena or summons authority under 19 U.S.C. Section 1509. Those demands do not require prior approval from a judge and can compel technology companies and service providers to disclose basic subscriber information — such as a name, address, IP address, length of service and session times — though they cannot be used to obtain the content of communications.

EFF said it submitted a Freedom of Information Act request on March 13 through DHS and ICE’s SecureRelease portal, along with a request for expedited processing. The group said it sought records created on or after Jan. 20, 2025.

According to the complaint, EFF asked for policies, directives and guidance; legal analyses or memoranda supporting use of the authority; Inspector General and other oversight records; approval and issuance procedures; records showing how many such subpoenas were issued; and communications with technology companies and with the Justice Department.

EFF said DHS and ICE did not respond within FOIA’s deadlines. The complaint says the agencies had about 10 calendar days to decide the request for expedited processing and 20 working days to make a standard determination, with those deadlines expiring around March 23 and April 9, respectively.

In the suit, EFF argues the records are urgently needed because DHS and ICE have used the subpoena power to seek identifying information about internet users engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment. The complaint says: “The policies, directives, and authorization records governing the program have not been disclosed. The legal basis asserted by DHS and ICE for using a customs statute to compel disclosure of information about persons engaged in constitutionally protected speech and association has not been made public.”

The filing follows a recent string of court fights over the same authority. In 2025 and early 2026, ACLU affiliates challenged DHS administrative subpoenas sent to Meta seeking to identify anonymous Instagram accounts that tracked ICE activity in California and Pennsylvania. Court records show DHS withdrew those subpoenas before judges ruled on the challenges.

EFF said recent court records and reporting also show DHS used the authority in the past year to try to identify or locate people who documented ICE activity, criticized the government or attended protests. The group’s complaint says the agencies’ use of the authority to identify critics has been ongoing since early 2025.

Section 1509 is a customs-law summons provision historically tied to customs and import investigations, making its use in cases involving online speech and protests notable, civil-liberties groups say. The clearest prior government scrutiny came in 2017, when the DHS Office of Inspector General issued a management alert after Customs and Border Protection used the same authority to seek information about the anonymous Twitter account @ALT_USCIS. The watchdog said CBP lacked clear guidance and had, in many cases, used the summons authority improperly.

EFF is asking the court to order DHS and ICE to grant expedited processing, produce the requested records, waive fees and pay attorneys’ fees and costs.

Aaron Mackey, EFF’s deputy legal director, said in a statement: “DHS and ICE should not be able to first claim that they have the legal authority to unmask critics and then run from court when users challenge these administrative subpoenas. The public deserves to know what laws the agencies believe give them the power to issue these speech-chilling subpoenas.”