More than 185,000 administrative subpoena items were identified by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as potentially responsive to a request from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), according to a joint status report filed on October 2, 2026. The figure refers to items identified for EFF’s records request about certain categories of subpoenas issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since January 20, 2025. The filing gives the figure as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE.
The filing separates three different measures: subpoena items, correspondence records, and pages processed for release.
What the 185,000 figure counts
HSI reported identifying more than 185,000 administrative subpoenas as potentially responsive to EFF’s request. The request concerns certain categories of ICE subpoenas issued since January 20, 2025; the status report does not enumerate those categories.
That wording describes the items HSI identified in relation to the request. It is not a final tally of subpoenas issued. The report separately lists correspondence records and page counts from the agencies’ FOIA processing.
Correspondence records and FOIA releases
HSI also identified more than 90,000 potentially responsive records of correspondence between ICE and technology companies and other service providers that received administrative subpoenas. Those records are a separate category from the subpoena items.
The report describes a September 14, 2026, discussion about the request’s scope and the volume of records. EFF submitted a written proposal to narrow the request on September 21. DHS and ICE reported their productions on September 29. The filing gives these counts:
| Measure | Amount | What it counts |
| Potentially responsive administrative subpoenas | More than 185,000 items | Items HSI identified in response to EFF’s request |
| Potentially responsive correspondence | More than 90,000 records | Correspondence between ICE and subpoena recipients, including technology companies and other service providers |
| DHS pages reviewed | 417 pages | Pages reviewed for DHS’s September 29 production |
| DHS pages deemed nonresponsive | 307 pages | Pages DHS classified as nonresponsive |
| Duplicate DHS pages | 35 pages | Pages DHS identified as duplicates |
| DHS pages released in part | 49 pages | Pages released with some information withheld |
| DHS pages released in full | 26 pages | Pages released without partial redactions |
| ICE’s initial production | 13 pages | Pages released in full |
The first two figures count different kinds of records; the remaining figures describe the agencies’ page-by-page processing. The joint status report records the FOIA process and releases reported by EFF, DHS, and ICE.
The statute behind customs summonses
The statutory context includes 19 U.S.C. § 1509. In specified customs investigations, the law authorizes the examination of relevant records and summonses requiring people to provide records or relevant testimony. The text of § 1509 sets out that authority and its customs-investigation scope.
