American Oversight Calls on DHS and National Archives to Investigate Records Act Violations After DHS’s Backtracking
Following DHS’s stunning admission that it has not preserved top officials’ text messages since April, we sent letters demanding urgent action to recover and preserve missing records and prevent further destruction.
We’re demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the National Archives and Records Administration take urgent action to preserve all records of test messages sent by top officials like Secretary Kristi Noem, following the agency’s stunning admission — and attempted backtracking — that it has not preserved texts since April, around the time it faced heightened public scrutiny over the wrongful removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from the United States. Today we sent letters demanding Noem and Acting Archivist Marco Rubio take immediate actions to preserve texts, recover any missing records, and prevent further destruction.
In recent responses to our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, DHS’s Privacy Office stated that “text message data generated after April 9, 2025, is no longer maintained” and that the agency “no longer has the capability to conduct a search of text messages.” These responses, first reported by the New York Times, contradict the agency’s subsequent public assurances that it continues to maintain records of text messages.
“DHS’s shifting explanation raises serious concerns about whether the agency has preserved critical government records, effectively erasing them from the public record.” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “As the administration well knows, preserving records — including text messages — is not optional. And we will not allow DHS to dodge accountability by creating obstacles that impede the preservation and accessibility of records that could expose and limit its unlawful anti-immigrant agenda. If DHS is deliberately failing to preserve records from Secretary Noem and other top officials, it is breaking the law, and that demands immediate intervention by DHS leadership and the National Archives.”
American Oversight’s letters urge Noem to immediately preserve and recover all records reflecting missing text messages and notify the National Archives of the unlawful removal or destruction, as required by the Federal Records Act. In a separate letter to Marco, we called on the National Archives to ensure the prevention of further records destruction and to initiate an enforcement action through the Attorney General to recover the records.
Background
In July, we submitted a FOIA request seeking the text, Signal, and email communications of Noem and other top DHS officials related to the National Guard’s Los Angeles deployment to quell protests over its mass deportation agenda. In its July 23 response, DHS stated that “text message data generated after April 9, 2025, is no longer maintained.”
We submitted follow-up FOIA requests on August 21 seeking the July 2025 text messages of Noem and other DHS leaders and records reflecting those messages. Just two and a half hours later, DHS responded with a categorical “no records” determination for each request, stating that it “no longer has the capability to conduct a search of text messages.”
DHS’s decision to stop preserving or searching text messages after April 9 appears to have coincided with heightened public scrutiny of the Trump administration’s wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national living in Maryland who was mistakenly sent in March to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. According to public reporting and whistleblower accounts, DHS officials were engaged in significant internal discussions during this period about compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders — including through text messages — raising serious concerns that the agency’s failure to preserve or produce these records may have shielded critical communications from oversight and accountability.
With more than 260,000 employees and 80,000 law enforcement officers, DHS plays a central role in some of the federal government’s most controversial actions, including mass detention and deportation operations that have run roughshod over the rights of immigrants and American citizens alike. The department’s new position suggests that critical records may not be preserved or accessible for lawful oversight, leaving the public in the dark about decisions with sweeping consequences for civil rights and public safety.
The irony is stark: DHS and its components, including Customs and Border Protection, recently received a dramatic increase in funding, and have unprecedented access to the phones and communications of ordinary people — conducting record-high searches of travelers’ devices at the border — while simultaneously claiming it cannot access or search the official text messages of its own senior leadership.
Our demand letters were sent amid renewed scrutiny of federal officials’ reliance on disappearing messaging apps like Signal — a practice that has already triggered court orders and investigations following revelations about Trump administration officials’ use of auto-delete features. DHS has previously faced controversy over missing records, including the deletion of Secret Service texts following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.