A federal ICE subpoena is seeking to identify every person in the greater Minneapolis–St. Paul area who purchased a specific dark green beanie from outdoor retailer REI since 2024, according to new court filings. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents issued the request in March, demanding transaction records for “all persons” who bought the item over roughly a two-year span. REI has not said publicly whether it complied or how many customers could be affected.
The demand is tied to a broader lawsuit brought by the federal government against 39 people who attended an ICE protest at a church. The church’s pastor also served as an acting ICE field office director. Among those now named as defendants are protesters as well as journalists who were covering the event, including former CNN host Don Lemon.
92 Subpoenas Sent Across Multiple Industries
The REI request was one of 92 subpoenas issued as part of HSI’s investigation into the defendants, the court filings state. Other recipients included social media platforms, airlines, telecom providers, a car rental company, and a state employment agency. At least one subpoena directed to an unnamed airline reportedly sought a defendant’s past flight records and also asked the carrier to provide HSI with a “lookout notification” about the person’s future travel.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment. The US Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, which is handling the case for the government, did not respond to questions about why identifying every beanie buyer was necessary, or why REI was singled out when the same beanie is sold on other platforms.
Customs Tool Used Without Judicial Oversight
The subpoenas issued by HSI agents are known as 1509 customs summonses, a legal instrument intended for requesting information related to imports and exports. Since the start of the current administration, multiple news outlets have documented DHS using the tool to attempt to identify online critics. The summonses can be issued without the involvement of a judge or jury.
“It’s flat-out absurd for DHS to demand REI search two years of customer data as part of Trump’s campaign against the people of Minneapolis,” said US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. “Customs summonses only allow DHS to request information directly related to compliance with customs laws, not to conduct unending fishing expeditions into the lives of people critical of Donald Trump.”
The total number of 1509 summonses issued during this administration, and how many individuals have had personal data collected as a result, remains unknown. Companies that receive these subpoenas are typically instructed to keep their existence secret. Public disclosures usually occur only when a target challenges the request in court, either after a recipient company notifies the individual or after the target discovers the request independently.
According to a recent letter from Wyden and Representative Pramila Jayapal, large tech firms sometimes disregard the government’s secrecy requests when not legally bound to comply. Companies operating in more heavily regulated sectors have told Congress they complied out of concern for regulatory retaliation.
