SecurityNov 9, 2026, 1:43 PM UTC·2 min read

HSI Has Sent 185,000 Administrative Subpoenas Since January 2025

Homeland Security Investigations estimates it has issued at least 185,000 administrative subpoenas since January 2025, a court filing shows, raising privacy and oversight concerns.

Federal agents' badge outside a Department of Homeland Security building, symbolizing warrantless subpoena use and surveillance concerns. — Image: WIRED

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that normally handles transnational crime, estimates it has sent at least 185,000 administrative subpoenas since the start of the Trump administration. The figure comes from a recent court filing and points to a sharp rise in the agency's use of a warrantless investigative power.

A jump compared with earlier years

A previous WIRED analysis found that ICE agents sent around 170,000 of one type of administrative subpoena, known as a 1509 customs summons, over more than six and a half years, from the start of 2016 to mid-August 2022. HSI's new estimate for a much shorter period is already larger.

The number emerged in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed against the Department of Homeland Security. The group had asked how many subpoenas went to technology companies, internet platforms and service providers since January 20, 2025. It is unclear whether the 185,000 covers only those companies or a far broader set, and EFF deputy legal director Aaron Mackey says the group hopes to obtain more detail.

Why the power is contested

Unlike grand jury subpoenas or court orders, administrative subpoenas do not require the government to explain to a court why it needs documents or what data it seeks. Since January 2025, the federal government has used the power to try to unmask anonymous online critics and to seek broad customer records about protesters, including a list of people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area who bought a specific green beanie from REI.

Congress gave customs summons authority to the US Customs Service nearly a century ago to help check imports and duties; it passed to DHS in 2003. In 2017, the DHS inspector general rebuked Customs and Border Protection for using one to unmask an anonymous Twitter user, noting that DHS's own manual limited such summonses to customs or immigration matters. The administration has now argued in court that the transfer lets DHS use the power for its "broad investigative portfolio," including laws "beyond legacy customs and immigration enforcement."

Reaction and next steps

ICE did not answer questions about the increase. Mackey suggests there is little downside: if a company refuses, ICE can sue to compel compliance, as it recently did with Google, or withdraw the request and use a grand jury subpoena instead.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon called the numbers "a dragnet domestic surveillance program" and urged Congress to pass his bipartisan Subpoena Abuse Prevention Act. He said he plans to use the Senate Finance Committee gavel next year to investigate HSI's use of customs law.

Apps worth a look

SUMO: the number puzzle

Tap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.

Dialo: learn languages by speaking

Talk to an AI conversation partner; every sentence comes back corrected and explained in your language. 9 languages, A1 to C2.

ediviewer: read EDI files like documents

Open EDIFACT and X12 messages, see every segment explained, convert to JSON/XML, export PDF and Excel. Runs locally, no upload.

giftdetect: the right gift in minutes

Pick who it is for, the occasion and their personality. The search engine reads product descriptions from local shops and ranks what fits. Free, no sign-up.

Tags:dhshsiiceadministrative subpoenassurveillanceeff