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2w ago

Records Show FBI Accessed Private Signal Chat for New York Immigration Court Watchers

A joint memo labeled the volunteers 'anarchist violent extremist actors', prompting new demands for transparency.

Comptroller Brad Lander joins 11 local elected officials inside lower Manhattan’s federal building, demanding access to an ICE holding area on the building’s 10th floor in New York City on Sept. 18, 2025.
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Federal law enforcement officers are pictured outside immigration courtrooms at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
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Overview

  • The records, obtained by Property of the People and shared with news outlets, include an FBI–NYPD situational report dated August 28, 2025 that quoted messages from a private Signal group.
  • The memo summarized discussions about documenting law enforcement at Manhattan immigration courts and about what to say to enter courtrooms, citing a late‑May debrief call.
  • The report described the source of the chat content as a 'sensitive source with excellent access', leaving the method of obtaining the encrypted messages unspecified.
  • An NYPD spokesperson said the document was not an NYPD record, while the FBI declined to comment, DHS referred questions to the FBI, and ICE did not respond.
  • Activists and civil liberties advocates condemned the surveillance and the extremist label, noting that courtwatching involves lawful observation of public immigration hearings following renewed ICE courthouse arrests this year.