DHS Seeks Protesters’ Signal Group Chats

The US Department of Homeland Security is trying to obtain residents' "rapid response" Signal group chats as part of its defense in a lawsuit alleging it violated protesters' First Amendment rights. The case, Hilton v. Noem, was filed in federal court in Maine earlier this year. Plaintiffs say DHS surveilled their activities: one woman claims agents scanned her face and logged her license plate while she watched Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, telling her she would end up in a "nice little database."

After immigration enforcement increased in their neighborhoods, Maine residents started organizing and using Signal chats to share information about DHS operations. During discovery, the government requested a list of protests each defendant attended, communications—including comments and "likes"—reflecting plaintiffs' views about law enforcement, and communications about observing or recording ICE activities in Maine from January 20, 2025, to the present.

In June, plaintiffs' attorneys told the Department of Justice they were deliberately withholding all community Signal chats that would otherwise be responsive. They handed over smaller chats but redacted contact details of non-plaintiffs and communications revealing the groups' priorities, tactics, or strategies. Government lawyers also deposed plaintiffs, asking whether public officials or unnamed political groups were in the chats, whether out-of-state residents participated, and who organized the chats.

Genevieve Nadeau, an attorney for the protesters and special counsel at Protect Democracy, said the government wants access to private chats that communities are using to coordinate lawful responses to abuses of power. She asked the court to block the access, arguing it intrudes on the fundamental First Amendment right to collective action. DHS and DOJ did not comment.

Adam Steinbaugh, a senior attorney at FIRE, said people should not have to give up their right to expressive association to sue to protect their First Amendment rights. The government has also tried to unmask critics of its immigration policies by subpoenaing tech companies, including for a Canadian citizen's information. ICE's internal watchdog has investigated more than 100 alleged doxing and threat incidents against ICE employees.