DHS Deploys 1930s Customs Law to Seize Google Data on Canadian Critic of Trump Administration
The Department of Homeland Security invoked a Depression-era customs statute to compel Google to produce location data, activity logs, and identifying information on a Canadian man who publicly criticized the Trump administration online following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year. Legal representatives for the unnamed individual say the case represents a sweeping and legally dubious expansion of government surveillance authority against foreign nationals beyond U.S. borders.
The target of the summons has not set foot in the United States for more than a decade, according to his lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia. Michael Perloff, a senior staff attorney at ACLU DC who is handling the case, filed suit against DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin challenging the summons. "I don't know what the government knows about our client's residence, but it's clear that the government isn't stopping to find out," Perloff stated. The civil liberties organization argues that DHS misapplied the customs law—originally designed to regulate trade and border enforcement—to obtain records from a U.S. tech company about a foreign national with no established connection to American soil.
The lawsuit raises significant questions about the extraterritorial reach of American law enforcement authority and whether decades-old statutes were ever intended to facilitate intelligence gathering on overseas critics. ACLU lawyers contend the government's interpretation of the customs statute lacks legal foundation and sets a dangerous precedent for digital-era surveillance of non-residents. The case has drawn attention from privacy advocates who warn that invoking legacy legislation in this manner could enable federal agencies to bypass conventional warrant requirements when targeting individuals abroad who engage with American platforms or express views unwelcome by the administration.