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href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/21/fbi-signal-group-chat-immigration"
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The FBI spied on a Signal
group chat of immigration activists, records reveal</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Sam Levin</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">November
21, 2025</div>
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<p><img
alt="people in dark clothes and face masks stand in an elevator"
src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/843e346d6ab4f63cd0f2627953b1b94b432d79c6/0_0_2407_1605/master/2407.jpg?width=480&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none"
width="480" height="320.06647278770254"
class="dcr-1qoyb3"></p>
<p><span class="dcr-n4pnam"><font size="1"><span
class="dcr-1qvd3m6">Federal immigration
officers board an elevator with respondents at
immigration court in New York on 17 November
2025.</span> Photograph: David Dee
Delgado/Reuters</font></span></p>
<p>The <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/fbi"
moz-do-not-send="true">FBI</a> spied on a private
Signal group chat of immigrants\u2019 rights activists
who were organizing \u201ccourtwatch\u201d efforts in New York
City this spring, law enforcement records shared
with the Guardian indicate.</p>
<p>The FBI, the documents show, gained access to
conversations in a \u201ccourtwatch\u201d Signal group that
helps coordinate volunteer activists who monitor
public proceedings at three New York federal
immigration courts. The US government has repeatedly
been <a
href="https://www.npr.org/2025/08/25/nx-s1-5503595/immigration-court-new-york"
moz-do-not-send="true">accused</a> of <a
href="https://immigrantjustice.org/press-release/unlawful-ice-arrests-at-immigration-courthouses-prompt-lawsuit-by-advocates-and-immigrants/"
moz-do-not-send="true">violating</a> immigrants\u2019 <a
href="https://www.nycbar.org/reports/case-dismissals-in-immigration-court-to-facilitate-ice-arrests-violates-due-process-and-undermines-access-to-humanitarian-protections/"
moz-do-not-send="true">due process</a> rights at
those courts.</p>
<p>A \u201cjoint situational information report\u201d from the
FBI and the New York police department (NYPD), dated
28 August 2025, quoted from a chat on Signal, the
encrypted messaging app, and also characterized the
court watchers as \u201canarchist violent extremist
actors\u201d. The two-page report was distributed to
other law enforcement agencies across the US.</p>
<p>The records were obtained by <a
href="https://propertyofthepeople.org/"
moz-do-not-send="true">Property of the People</a>,
a government transparency non-profit, through public
records requests.</p>
<p>Activist groups have expanded efforts to observe
and document courthouse activities in recent months
as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has
increasingly <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/22/ice-arrests-immigration-courts"
moz-do-not-send="true">been detaining immigrants</a>
who have shown up to court for routine hearings. An
ICE <a
href="https://stateline.org/2025/11/19/ice-courthouse-arrests-meet-resistance-from-democratic-states/"
moz-do-not-send="true">directive</a> issued the
day <a href="https://www.ice.gov/node/66174"
moz-do-not-send="true">after</a> Donald Trump took
office in January established that agents could <a
href="https://www.ice.gov/doclib/foia/policy/11072.3_CivilImmEnfActionsCourthouses_01.21.2025.pdf"
moz-do-not-send="true">arrest immigrants</a> at
court; the practice had been <a
href="https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ciEnforcementActionsCourthouses2.pdf"
moz-do-not-send="true">restricted</a> under the
Biden administration due to concerns that court
arrests would interfere with \u201cthe fair
administration of justice\u201d.</p>
<p>In immigration courts across the country this year,
the US government has repeatedly dismissed
immigrants\u2019 cases at their hearings, enabling
federal agents to then arrest the immigrants in
courthouse hallways, the Guardian <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/19/trump-immigration-cuba-asylum-seeker"
moz-do-not-send="true">previously reported</a>. A
recent Associated Press investigation suggested that
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has set up
\u201c<a
href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-courts-deportations-trump-administration-8b9fab5475c0da4c0f13f3381de91448"
moz-do-not-send="true">deportation traps</a>\u201d at
the courts. A federal officer was filmed <a
href="https://www.propublica.org/article/ice-officer-shoves-woman-till-eckert"
moz-do-not-send="true">pushing a woman to the
floor</a> at a New York City courthouse in
September, prompting a <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/26/ice-officer-video-relieved-of-duties"
moz-do-not-send="true">rare rebuke from the DHS</a>.</p>
<p>The FBI\u2019s report from August, prepared by its New
York division, does not make clear how the bureau
accessed the Signal group. The Signal platform,
widely used by activists, is <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/28/what-is-signal-the-messaging-app-at-the-heart-of-a-us-security-leak"
moz-do-not-send="true">known for its end-to-end
encryption</a>; typically, the only way law
enforcement can access messages is if they are <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/06/signal-group-chat-leak-how-it-happened"
moz-do-not-send="true">directly included in the
chat</a>, are sent copies from a participant or
have access to a member\u2019s unlocked phone.</p>
<p>The FBI said the information came from a \u201csensitive
source with excellent access\u201d and introduced the
report as a warning about \u201cextremist actors
targeting law enforcement officers and federal
facilities\u201d.</p>
<p>In \u201clate May\u201d, an individual \u201cparticipated in a
debrief session held via a Signal call within the
\u2018courtwatch\u2019 Signal groupchat\u201d, the FBI wrote,
without identifying the individual or the specific
group or organizations involved. That person
\u201cdiscussed how to improve future activities near
federal facilities in New York City, including 26
Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street and 290 Broadway\u201d,
the report continued, listing the addresses of three
immigration courts in Manhattan.</p>
<p>\u201cCollecting media of activities was \u2018critical
information\u2019; media included photos and videos of
law enforcement officers including their badges,
faces, names, license plates, law enforcement
vehicles, and the interior of federal facilities,\u201d
the FBI wrote, summarizing the conversations.</p>
<p>Discussions in the chat included \u201cinstructions on
where to go and what to say in order to gain access
to federal courtrooms\u201d, with the FBI noting that
members of the group were told which floors to visit
and to tell officials they were there to observe,
with statements like: \u201cI\u2019m due at a 9:30 hearing.\u201d</p>
<p>The FBI added: \u201c\u2018Courtwatch\u2019 is a private/invite
only, encrypted Signal application group chat
created by the identified [individual]. In private
encrypted online chats, the identified [individual]
is known to instruct protest participants to use
violence against [law enforcement].\u201d</p>
<p>The FBI declined to comment in response to a
detailed list of questions. The DHS also declined to
comment, referring questions to the FBI. ICE did not
respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>The memo did not provide any further details about
the individual or their alleged past calls for
violence and offered no specifics or evidence to
explain why the FBI characterized them as \u201canarchist
violent extremists\u201d. The courtwatch efforts have
been non-violent, and the FBI did not respond to an
inquiry seeking specific examples of violence and
did not answer questions about whether law
enforcement had ongoing access to the private group.</p>
<p>An NYPD spokesperson said in an email: \u201cThis is not
an NYPD document. It references a broader
counterterrorism investigation into a range of
possible criminal activities, including weapons
training, violence against law enforcement, property
damage and destruction, and discussions about
bomb-making. This investigation has been reviewed by
an external civilian representative exercising
oversight pursuant to court order.\u201d</p>
<p>The FBI\u2019s report does not include references to
\u201cbomb-making\u201d or any of the other specific claims of
criminal activity, and the NYPD declined to comment
further.</p>
<p>Hearings at immigration court, which is run by the
Department of Justice, are <a
href="https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1414731/dl?inline"
moz-do-not-send="true">open to the public</a> and
observers do not have to inform the courts in
advance of their attendance.</p>
<p>It is unclear<strong> </strong>whether specific
groups were targeted by the Signal surveillance.
Volunteers with a range of immigrants\u2019 rights
organizations and grassroots groups have been
involved in New York immigration court watching,
which has become a common practice in cities across
the country as DHS arrests have escalated.</p>
<p>Brad Lander, New York City\u2019s comptroller, was <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/19/new-york-mayoral-candidate-brad-lander-interview"
moz-do-not-send="true">arrested by ICE in June</a>
inside an immigration courthouse while accompanying
an immigrant New Yorker. The former mayoral
candidate, who has regularly participated in court
watching, condemned the FBI\u2019s report in a statement,
saying the \u201cFBI surveillance tactic is ripped
straight out of the J Edgar Hoover playbook\u201d,
referring to the <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/21/the-gospel-of-j-edgar-hoover-lerone-martin"
moz-do-not-send="true">longtime former FBI
director</a> known for his spying and attacks on
activists.</p>
<p>\u201cObserving immigration court hearings is a legal
and non-violent act, unlike the ICE abductions we
have witnessed regularly for months outside of the
courtrooms,\u201d Lander said. \u201cThe mission of courtwatch
is to provide transparency and ensure people are not
disappeared without due process \u2013 surveillance and
intimidation by Trump\u2019s corrupted Justice Department
won\u2019t stop us from showing up to protect our
neighbors and the rule of law.\u201d</p>
<p>\u201cBasic civic participation is not a terrorist
threat,\u201d added<strong> </strong>Dr Ryan Shapiro,
executive director of Property of the People, in a
statement. \u201cThe FBI treating it like one is yet
another example of the Trump regime\u2019s profound
contempt for even the most rudimentary of democratic
freedoms.\u201d</p>
<p>Natalie Baldassarre, a justice department
spokesperson, did not respond to questions about the
FBI surveillance, but said in a statement: \u201cAfter
four years of the Biden administration forcing
immigration courts to implement a de facto amnesty
for hundreds of thousands of aliens, this Department
of Justice is restoring integrity to our courts and
will continue to enforce federal immigration law to
protect national security and public safety.\u201d</p>
<p>Spencer Reynolds, a civil liberties advocate and
former senior intelligence counsel with the DHS,
said the FBI report was part of a pattern of the US
government criminalizing free speech activities. He
noted Tom Homan, the White House border czar,
stating earlier this year that \u201cknow your rights\u201d
trainings could be considered <a
href="https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/tom-homan-warns-aoc-may-be-in-trouble-over-ice-webinar-is-she-crossing-the-line-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-immigration-mass-deporations-border-czar"
moz-do-not-send="true">impeding law enforcement</a>;
the DHS <a
href="https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2025/10/30/dhs-kristi-noem-tammy-duckworth-dick-durbin-ice-agents-filming-arrests"
moz-do-not-send="true">arresting people</a>
filming <a
href="https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-demands-information-from-dhs-about-alarming-pattern-of-retaliation-against-those-recording-immigration-agents"
moz-do-not-send="true">immigration agents</a>; and
Trump signing an <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/22/trump-executive-order-antifa-terrorist-organization"
moz-do-not-send="true">executive order</a>
designating \u201cantifa\u201d, the decentralized antifascist
movement, a \u201cdomestic terrorist organization\u201d,
raising fears of a <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/23/what-is-antifa-meaning-trump"
moz-do-not-send="true">broad crackdown on leftist
activism</a>.</p>
<p>\u201cThe US government is turning these powerful
national security agencies towards critics and
people who are standing up for the rights of
immigrants, and while it\u2019s so shocking to see
something like this, it\u2019s not surprising,\u201d said
Reynolds, who reviewed the FBI document for the
Guardian. \u201cThese activities, and public access to
our courts, are lawful and protected by our rights
in the US constitution, yet routinely we\u2019re seeing
federal officials portray efforts to obtain basic
accountability as threats.\u201d</p>
<p>FBI surveillance of this nature is not subject to
significant oversight and there are limited
guardrails to prevent abuses of people\u2019s rights,
Reynolds added.</p>
<p>Reynolds likened the FBI surveillance to the
bureau\u2019s past efforts to <a
href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/assault-left-fbi-and-sixties-antiwar-movement"
moz-do-not-send="true">infiltrate and disrupt</a>
the civil rights movement in the 1960s and <a
href="https://www.aclu.org/news/national-security/how-the-fbi-spied-on-orange-county-muslims-and-attempted-to-get-away-with-it"
moz-do-not-send="true">spy on Muslim communities</a>
after 9/11.</p>
<p>Undercover operations, he noted, can lead to
conflicts among activists and increasing distrust:
\u201cThere is a significant risk of chilling and
undermining these sorts of private discussion
environments.\u201d</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>This article was updated on 21 November to
include a longer statement from the NYPD.</p>
</li>
</ul>
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