Overview
- Homeland Security issued an administrative subpoena to Google for records tied to a retiree’s account shortly after he emailed immigration prosecutor Joseph Dernbach about an Afghan deportation case.
- Two DHS agents visited the man at his Philadelphia home, showed him a copy of his message, questioned him for about 20 minutes, and agreed his note did not appear criminal.
- The subpoena sought detailed account logs dating back to September and personal identifiers, while agents said an administrative subpoena could not obtain email or other content.
- Google alerted the user that it had received legal process and later told him it had not yet responded, despite a government request that he not be notified.
- The ACLU filed a pro bono motion to block disclosure, arguing DHS exceeded statutory limits on immigration subpoenas and chilled protected speech under the First Amendment.