A 67-year-old retiree in the Philadelphia suburbs was targeted by DHS after emailing a federal prosecutor who was featured in the news for a deportation case.
The man, Jon, told The Washington Post he received an “administrative subpoena” a few hours after sending the email. And then federal investigators show up at his door after the government used an unusual and scary legal tool against him.
Jon said he was outraged by the case of a migrant facing deportation to Afghanistan, where the Taliban would likely kill him. So he looked up the prosecutor’s contact information and typed up a quick email urging him to reconsider the case.
“Err on the side of caution. There’s a reason the U.S. government along with many other governments don’t recognise the Taliban. Apply principles of common sense and decency,” he urged the prosecutor.
Five hours later, he received a notification from Google. The tech company informed him it had “received legal process from a Law Enforcement authority compelling the release of information related to your Google Account.” The notice said a “subpoena” had been issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
Jon said he soon learned he hadn’t been hit with a typical subpoena that would require a court’s sign-off, but an administrative subpoena, which can quickly be issued by any federal agency without prior approval and is not subject to oversight.
Local police showed up at Jon's home with two Homeland Security investigators. They showed him a copy of the email he’d sent to the federal prosecutor and asked for his “side of the story,” he recalled.
But he was shocked to learn that their visit came despite Google not granting DHS’ request for his online information, leaving him to wonder exactly how they tracked him down.
They requested information on his online sessions, associates IP and physical addresses, a full list of all the online services he uses, any usernames and email addresses, his credit card information, his driver’s license, and his social security number.
This is America now, people. Making us scared is the point.
