US Homeland Security Has Issued at Least 185,000 Administrative Subpoenas Since Trump Took Office

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that normally handles transnational crime, estimates it has issued at least 185,000 administrative subpoenas since President Donald Trump's administration took office, according to a recent court filing. These subpoenas allow the government to demand records from companies without a judge's approval, so the number points to a growing reliance on that power in investigations.

Comparison with earlier years

For scale, an earlier analysis by WIRED found that from the start of 2016 to mid-August 2022, ICE agents sent around 170,000 so-called 1509 customs summons, one type of administrative subpoena.

The estimate came out in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brought by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit that defends digital rights. EFF had asked how many administrative subpoenas were sent to technology companies, internet platforms and service providers since January 20, 2025. It is unclear whether the 185,000 figure covers only those companies or a much wider set. Aaron Mackey, the EFF's deputy legal director, says the group hopes to obtain more detail.

Why it raises concern

Unlike a grand jury subpoena or a court order, an administrative subpoena does not require the government to explain to a court why it needs documents or what data it seeks. According to the source, the power has been used under the Trump administration to try to unmask anonymous online critics and to seek broad customer records about protesters. One example is a list of people in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area who bought a specific green beanie from retailer REI.

Congress granted customs summons powers to the then stand-alone US Customs Service nearly a century ago so officers could examine business records on imports and determine whether duties were owed. In 2003, those powers moved to the newly created DHS. In 2017, the DHS inspector general rebuked Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility for trying to use a summons to unmask an anonymous Twitter user, noting that the department's own manual limited such summonses to customs or immigration matters. The administration now argues in court that the power can support a broader investigative portfolio, including enforcement beyond legacy customs and immigration law.

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ICE did not answer questions about the sharp increase. Mackey speculates there is virtually no downside to issuing them: if a company refuses, ICE can sue to compel compliance, as it recently did with Google, or withdraw the subpoena and seek the data through a grand jury subpoena.

US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon called the figures a dragnet domestic surveillance program and urged Congress to pass his bipartisan bill to curb federal subpoenas. He plans to investigate the matter next year through the Senate Finance Committee.