DHS Sought Google Data on Canadian Over Anti-ICE Posts
▼ Summary
– DHS sought a Canadian man’s location data and activity logs from Google after he criticized the Trump administration online following the killings of two people by immigration agents in Minneapolis.
– The man has not entered the U.S. in over a decade, and his lawyers argue DHS violated customs law by using a customs summons to request information outside its jurisdiction.
– A customs summons is an administrative subpoena not reviewed by a judge, and Google alerted the man about the request despite a non-disclosure directive in the summons.
– The summons cited the Tariff Act of 1930 but gave no specific reason for the investigation, and the man’s lawyers say he did not import or export anything from the U.S. during the requested timeframe.
– The man’s lawyers allege the summons was a response to his online posts condemning immigration enforcement agents after the killings, which he made to show support for Americans.
The Department of Homeland Security issued a customs summons to Google, demanding location data, activity logs, and other identifying information about a Canadian man who had criticized the Trump administration online. This occurred after federal immigration agents killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Lawyers for the unidentified man express alarm, noting he has not set foot in the United States for over a decade. “I don’t know what the government knows about our client’s residence, but it’s clear that the government isn’t stopping to find out,” says Michael Perloff, a senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia. Perloff represents the man in a lawsuit against DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, challenging the summons. The suit alleges DHS violated customs law, which grants the agency authority to request records from businesses and other parties.
Perloff argues the government exploits the fact that major tech companies are headquartered in the U. S. to obtain data it otherwise could not access. “It’s using that geographic fact to get information that otherwise would be totally outside of its jurisdiction,” he says. “I mean, we’re talking about the physical movements of a person who lives in Canada.”
Neither DHS nor Google responded immediately to requests for comment.
The demand for the man’s location data appeared in a customs summons DHS sent to Google. Such summonses are legally intended for investigating issues related to importing goods and collecting customs duties. “It says right in the statute, it’s for records and testimony about the correctness of an entry, the liability of a person for duties, taxes, and fees, you know, compliance with basic customs laws,” explains Chris Duncan, a former assistant chief counsel for U. S. Customs and Border Protection who now represents importers and exporters in private practice. “And that’s all it was ever envisioned to be used for.”
A customs summons is a type of administrative subpoena not reviewed by a judge or grand jury before issuance. According to the complaint, Google notified the man about the request on February 9, despite the summons including an instruction “not to disclose the existence of this summons for an indefinite period of time.”
Through his attorneys, the man told WIRED he initially thought the notification was a joke or scam before realizing it was genuine.
The summons, included in the complaint, cites the Tariff Act of 1930 but provides no specific reason for the investigation. The man’s lawyers contend he did not export or import anything from the U. S. between September 1, 2025 and February 4, 2026, the period covered by the government’s request.
Instead, attorneys allege the summons was a response to the man’s online activities, particularly posts condemning immigration enforcement agents after the January killings of Good and Pretti.
The man told WIRED that watching Trump administration officials “smear these two souls as terrorists was absolutely disgusting and enraging. People were being asked to disbelieve our own eyes so that the men responsible for killing two good Americans would go free.”
He added of his online posts, “I felt I needed to do something that would stand out and be seen by despairing Americans to show them they had support and that they were not alone.”
(Source: Wired)
