The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Source: The Guardian
The FBI spied on a private Signal group chat of immigrants’ rights activists who were organizing “courtwatch” efforts in New York City this spring, law enforcement records shared with the Guardian indicate.
The FBI, the documents show, gained access to conversations in a “courtwatch” Signal group that helps coordinate volunteer activists who monitor public proceedings at three New York federal immigration courts. The US government has repeatedly been accused of violating immigrants’ due process rights at those courts.
A “joint situational information report” 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 “anarchist violent extremist actors”. The two-page report was distributed to other law enforcement agencies across the US.
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Activist groups have expanded efforts to observe and document courthouse activities in recent months as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has increasingly been detaining immigrants who have shown up to court for routine hearings. An ICE directive issued the day after Donald Trump took office in January established that agents could arrest immigrants at court; the practice had been restricted under the Biden administration due to concerns court arrests would interfere with “the fair administration of justice”.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/21/fbi-signal-group-chat-immigration
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