American Oversight Obtains Startling DHS Admission: It No Longer Preserves Text Messages for Noem, Other Top Officials

New York Times: “Homeland Security Dept. Says It Hasn’t Kept Text Message Data Since April”

American Oversight slammed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after the agency informed the nonpartisan watchdog that it can no longer search for text messages belonging to Secretary Kristi Noem and other senior leaders — and that it has not preserved any text messages created since April — timing that appears to coincide with heightened public scrutiny over the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

These startling admissions, revealed in DHS’s response to American Oversight Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, raise serious concerns about the agency’s compliance with federal transparency and recordkeeping laws, including FOIA and the Federal Records Act, especially in the wake of the Signalgate scandal.

“DHS’s admissions are as alarming as they are unacceptable. It appears the Trump administration has learned nothing from Signalgate about its obligation to retain the text communications of senior officials, and Secretary Noem is no exception,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “The law is clear: text messages are federal records, and DHS cannot simply decide it will no longer maintain or search them. We will not allow this blatant attempt by one of the nation’s largest law enforcement agencies to shield itself from oversight and accountability while carrying out some of the administration’s most dangerous and unconstitutional initiatives to be swept under the rug.”

In July, American Oversight submitted a FOIA request seeking the text, Signal, and email communications of Noem and other top DHS officials related to the National Guard’s questionable 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 In its July 23 response, DHS stated that “text message data generated after April 9, 2025, is no longer maintained.”

To test whether the agency was in fact retaining these communications, American Oversight submitted a follow-up FOIA request on August 21 seeking text messages sent or received by DHS leaders in July 2025. Just two and a half hours later, DHS responded with a categorical “no records” determination, 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.