New court filings reveal that Homeland Security Investigations agents served a subpoena to the outdoor retailer REI in March, requesting transaction logs for all individuals in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area who purchased a specific type of dark green beanie since 2024. REI has not addressed inquiries regarding whether it complied with the demand or how many customers were ultimately impacted by the data handover.
Lawsuit Linked to ICE Protest
The disclosures are part of a broader federal lawsuit filed against 39 individuals who participated in a demonstration outside a church whose pastor also served as an acting ICE field office director. Among the defendants now facing charges are both demonstrators and journalists who attempted to cover the unfolding events, including former CNN host Don Lemon.
Subpoenas Cast a Wide Net
According to the court filings, the REI subpoena was one of 92 similar requests issued as part of the agency's investigation into the defendants. Other entities targeted with subpoenas included social media platforms, airlines, telecommunication providers, a car rental company, and a state employment agency. At least one unnamed airline received a demand not only for historical flight records of a defendant but also for a lookout notification concerning future travel, court documents allege. The Department of Homeland Security declined to provide a statement on the matter. Meanwhile, the US Attorney's Office in Minnesota, which is handling the government's litigation, did not respond to questions regarding why identifying every local purchaser of the beanie was necessary or why REI customers were specifically targeted given that the item is available elsewhere.
Use of Customs Summons
The administrative directives utilized by HSI agents are formally known as 1509 customs summonses, which are originally intended for gathering information related to imports and exports. However, since the beginning of the Trump administration, news organizations have documented repeated attempts by DHS to unmask online critics through this legal mechanism, which operates without the oversight of a judge or jury.
US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon criticized the move, stating that it is entirely absurd for DHS to demand two years of customer data from REI as part of a campaign against the people of Minneapolis. He emphasized that customs summonses only permit the agency to request details directly tied to compliance with customs laws rather than conducting endless fishing expeditions into the lives of citizens who criticize Donald Trump.
The exact aggregate number of 1509 summonses issued since the current administration took office, along with the total volume of personal data harvested by DHS, remains unquantified. Companies receiving these requests are typically instructed to maintain strict secrecy. Public awareness usually arises only when a target discovers the action independently or when a recipient challenges the demand in court.
A recent congressional letter authored by Senator Wyden and Representative Pramila Jayapal notes that major technology firms sometimes disregard government secrecy demands when lacking a legal obligation to comply, whereas entities in heavily regulated sectors have informed lawmakers that they comply out of fear of regulatory blowback.
Court documents, internal agency files, and corporate public disclosures indicate that various companies have responded differently to recent customs summonses.
Attorneys representing Georgia Fort, a journalist and defendant in the Minnesota proceedings, stated in a filing that they were stunned to discover the government had obtained six months of her call and text message logs from T-Mobile following a customs summons sent to the telecom carrier. The legal team alleges that neither T-Mobile nor the government provided any prior notification to Fort.
A T-Mobile spokesperson stated that the company takes its responsibility to protect customer privacy and personal data very seriously, while declining to discuss specific legal demands. The spokesperson added that their team carefully reviews government requests and responds strictly in accordance with the law.
In the same court filing, defense attorneys noted that Google rejected a customs summons seeking information about Fort's YouTube viewers and subscribers. A Google spokesperson explained that the company evaluates each government inquiry for lawfulness and will actively narrow or completely reject requests deemed overly broad.
Reddit recently disclosed that during the latter half of 2025, it received administrative subpoenas from DHS targeting 11 accounts associated with critical commentary on ICE operations. After Reddit challenged the demands on First Amendment grounds, the agency withdrew them, according to the platform.
Ben Lee, Reddit's outgoing chief legal officer, stated that privacy is central to their operations and that the company routinely pushes back against law enforcement requests to defend users exercising their constitutional rights.
Internal DHS correspondence acquired by the Electronic Frontier Foundation shows that Meta also resisted at least one customs summons. Meta declined a request for comment.
Mario Trujillo, a senior staff attorney at the EFF who tracks agency subpoenas sent to tech companies, remarked that DHS has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot be trusted to apply this legal tool correctly. He suggested that while Congress could enact legislation to restrict the use of 1509 summonses or introduce penalties for misuse, companies and their users currently stand on their own.
