Fatma Zehra Solmaz
14 February 2026•Update: 14 February 2026
ISTANBUL
Amid its controversial immigrant crackdown, the Trump administration is reportedly broadening its effort to track Americans critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), requesting user data from tech firms on people who have voiced opposition to the agency.
Hundreds of administrative subpoenas from the Department of Homeland Security in recent months have been served on Google, Reddit, Discord, and Meta -- which owns US-based social media platforms Facebook and Instagram -- four government officials and tech employees with direct knowledge of the matter told The New York Times, according to a report published Friday.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Google, Meta, and Reddit complied with some government legal demands seeking identifying details of anonymous accounts critical of ICE, officials said. The New York Times reviewed two subpoenas sent to Meta in recent months.
The companies said they evaluate such requests before complying and, in some cases, notify users, giving them time to challenge the order in court.
“The government is taking more liberties than they used to,” said Steve Loney, a supervising attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania. “It’s a whole other level of frequency and lack of accountability.”
The ACLU also argued at a Jan. 14 court hearing in California that the government is using such administrative subpoenas to target people whose speech it does not agree with.
The department said it has “broad administrative subpoena authority” but did not directly respond to questions about the requests. In court filings, its lawyers argued the information is being sought to help protect ICE agents operating in the field.
The Trump administration has defended such controversial tactics as ICE officers wearing masks and no identifying information, and refusing to give their names, saying the officers have been targeted by ICE critics, but provided little evidence of this.
The report comes amid a large-scale ICE crackdown on immigrants across many states, sweeping up longtime residents of the US, as well as some asylum seekers, with the death of at least two US citizens who voiced opposition. Opinion polls have also shown widespread public opposition to ICE and its tactics.
The NYT said Meta, Reddit, and Discord declined to provide comment on its story.
