1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to take action against the Department of Homeland Security's abuse of administrative subpoenas to intimidate constituents who exercise their First Amendment rights. This is how intimidation works in a bureaucratic system: not by outlawing speech, but by making speech feel expensive. On February 2, 2026, the ACLU filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Jon Doe, a Philadelphia-area refugee rights advocate. Just four hours after Doe sent a brief email to a DHS attorney urging the department to "apply principles of common sense and decency" in its treatment of an Afghan asylum seeker, DHS issued an administrative subpoena to Google demanding information about Doe's identity and home address. Two weeks later, two DHS agents and a local police officer appeared at his door to interrogate him about the email. This is not an isolated incident. DHS has previously used these subpoenas to unmask anonymous social media users posting about ICE raids and to pressure Columbia University into sharing information about a student involved in pro-Palestinian protests. After the ACLU challenged some of these subpoenas targeting Instagram and Facebook users, DHS withdrew them, demonstrating that these actions cannot withstand legal scrutiny. Administrative subpoenas are not signed by judges and are not self-enforcing. They are often issued silently to companies, with targeted individuals never knowing unless the company notifies them. This creates a chilling effect where constituents must weigh whether criticizing government officials is worth the risk of surveillance, investigation, and intimidation. As ACLU-PA senior supervising attorney Stephen A. Loney stated, "If you can't criticize a government official without the worry of having your private records gathered and agents knocking on your door, then your First Amendment rights start to feel less guaranteed." I urge you to introduce or support legislation that restricts DHS's ability to issue administrative subpoenas targeting constitutionally protected speech and requires judicial oversight before any such subpoenas can be enforced. Our democracy depends on citizens being able to criticize their government without fear of retaliation.