DHS Uses Customs Law to Secretly Seize Journalist Records

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is utilizing 19 USC 1509, an obscure customs law, to secretly obtain private records from journalists, non-profits, and unions without judicial oversight. By issuing administrative summonses typically reserved for customs and tax investigations, the agency has bypassed Fourth Amendment requirements for probable cause and judicial warrants.

The DHS targeted journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon, as well as media outlets including Democracy Now and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, following a protest at a church in Minneapolis. The agency also obtained financial records from the Service Employees International Union, the Communications Workers of America, and the Sunrise Movement.

Corporate responses to the summonses have varied. T-Mobile turned over six months of phone records for Georgia Fort, while Google refused to comply with a request for YouTube account information. Lawyers from the United States Department of Justice have argued that the statute grants the DHS the power to demand records without judicial oversight. However, critics and former DHS officials describe the practice as an improper end run around the judiciary designed to monitor protected speech and uncover confidential sources.