ICE Protest Surveillance Widens as DHS Subpoenas Union and Climate Group Records Without Any Crime

US federal agents subpoenaed more than three years of financial records from a major labour union and a climate group during the crackdown on anti-ICE protests in Minnesota, targeting organisations never accused of any crime, government documents show.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opened investigations into labour unions, a climate organisation, and socialist groups within days of the fatal shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by federal agents on 24 January, according to documents obtained by the New York Times. The probes sought to determine whether the groups had aided protesters, whom officials branded 'violent opportunists and agitators'.

The killing, along with the fatal shooting of US citizen Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent weeks earlier, had driven tens of thousands of Minnesotans into the streets.

Who Got Swept In

The reach extended well beyond street organisers. Investigators subpoenaed over three years of financial records from the Sunrise Movement, a climate activism group, and the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union. Agents also sought three years of wire transfers from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the country's largest healthcare union, citing an inquiry into 'domestic terrorist financing'.

That means rank-and-file members and small donors, not just leaders, were pulled into federal files. According to the documents, the investigations gathered information on individuals and groups never suspected of a crime.

A Case With No Charges

The surveillance surfaced in court filings by lawyers for Isaac Sant, one of 15 people charged in June with conspiring to impede immigration agents in the Twin Cities. The filings show Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an arm of ICE, subpoenaed bank records from national and Minnesota chapters of the SEIU, CWA, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and the Sunrise Movement. Agents also requested PayPal and Venmo transactions tied to the non-profit group Voices for Racial Justice.

Prosecutors went further, showing a grand jury a slide that alleged a conspiracy to obstruct agents by 18 organisations, including the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labour federation. None of the named groups has been charged with a crime.

Records That Predate the Protests

The subpoenaed records reach back years before Operation Metro Surge, the Minnesota enforcement drive launched in 2025. The financial history requested therefore covers a period long before any protest the government says it was investigating.

Undercover agents also infiltrated organising meetings at libraries, parks, and churches, logged licence plates and names, and joined encrypted Signal group chats to gather details on targets' political views, the filings state.

Why Members and Donors Are Exposed

The pattern fits a strategy officials have stated openly. In a September 2025 memo, President Donald Trump directed federal law enforcement to target ideologies it linked to 'domestic terrorism', including anti-capitalism and opposition to border enforcement. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons said the agency would 'track the money' and pursue what he called protest 'ringleaders'.

Civil liberties experts say the tools reach ordinary people. Administrative subpoenas are dangerous because the government can compel disclosure of personal information even when no crime is suspected, said Greg Nojeim of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

For a union member or a climate donor, that is the alarming part. Belonging to a mainstream organisation, the records suggest, can now be enough to land a person's financial data in a federal investigation.