ICE denies having a protester database. But a letter to Congress sheds more light

Demonstrators attend an anti-ICE rally in Lewiston, Maine on January 24, 2026. Federal officials have acknowledged collecting information on some protesters, even as they deny maintaining a database tracking U.S. citizens. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Last January, when federal immigration agents started an immigration crackdown in Portland, Maine, pediatric occupational therapist Xenia Pantos was driving using their spouse's car to work when they saw masked federal agents and vehicles with tinted windows parked in the road. Worried about immigrant community members, Pantos stopped for a few minutes to observe. Pantos told NPR they stayed at least 10 feet away from the agents and did not interact with them, but noticed an agent taking photos of another observer's license plate. Hours later, Pantos' spouse, Carly Williams, a nonprofit consultant, said she received a call from a blocked number. A deep male voice on the other end of the line asked for her by name and identified himself as calling from the Department of Homeland Security. Williams said the caller asked if anyone else drives her vehicle. When Williams mentioned her spouse sometimes did, the caller asked Williams if she knew her spouse had stopped at an incident that morning.

"What he basically said was, 'You should let her know to not do that anymore because people who are doing that type of thing are getting added to a domestic terrorist watch list,'" Williams recalled in an interview with NPR. (While the caller referred to Pantos as "she" and "her," Pantos uses they/them pronouns). "That was a pretty terrifying phone call to receive, as you can imagine," Williams said. DHS declined to comment on the couple's account when asked by NPR. For months, Department of Homeland Security officials have repeatedly denied having a database tracking U.S. citizen protesters or a database of "domestic terrorists", even as anecdotes like what happened to Pantos and Williams suggest federal agents are collecting observers' information in some capacity.

In a previously unpublicized letter sent to members of Congress in April, recently departed acting ICE director Todd Lyons acknowledged the agency gives itself wide latitude to collect information on individuals suspected of potential violations of law, including interference with ICE operations or officer safety matters, and maintains records on people who were never arrested.

In the letter, Lyons denied that ICE maintains a database of protesters or that DHS maintains a "separate, standalone database" of individuals who were encountered but not arrested or detained. But he said at protests that involved alleged criminal conduct, ICE has collected "information to identify individuals reasonably believed to be involved in, or directly supporting, potential violations of federal law and to address officer safety and facility security concerns." The letter said ICE collects "essential biographic and biometric information and situational details." Lyons wrote: "If individuals who interact with ICE officers are not arrested or detained, any information collected during those encounters is maintained consistent with applicable law and DHS and ICE policies and is treated as an official government record."

NPR is the first news organization to review the letter, which is dated April 21. It was sent in response to Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and 11 other Democratic members of Congress who wrote to DHS in February asking questions about what data the department collects on protesters. Civil liberties experts told NPR Lyons' letter appears to be the clearest official acknowledgement yet by federal immigration officials that they may be routinely collecting and preserving information on protesters and observers who are not arrested. "This letter is evidence of the fact that ICE is knowingly collecting and maintaining official government records on any protestor or lawful observer that its agents claim is potentially interfering with them or threatening agent safety," said JoAnna Suriani, a lawyer at the nonprofit legal and advocacy organization, Protect Democracy.

Suriani is representing Pantos, Williams and other observers in Maine in a federal lawsuit that alleges their First Amendment rights were violated by federal agents who tried to intimidate them by recording their faces and license plates and threatening to add them to a domestic terrorism database. "Anyone who has seen the videos of our clients' interactions with ICE agents can see they aren't impeding anything and pose no threat to anyone, so why was their information collected?"

Suriani said. Protesters photographed, filmed and threatened with charges Since the Trump administration's immigration crackdown began last year, peaceful protesters and observers recording federal immigration operations on their cell phones have been threatened with criminal charges for impeding or interfering with law enforcement operations. However, many cases where charges were brought against activists have been dismissed or resulted in acquittals. DHS officials have also previously asserted that recording federal agents and posting the videos amounts to "doxxing" and is a threat to their safety. Observers in several states, including Minnesota and Tennessee, complained that agents photographed their faces and license plates and later determined their identities and where they lived. Federal agents have access to a suite of surveillance tools, including facial recognition technology, and can access vehicle registration records using a car's license plate.

An activist stands outside across from what appears to be an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement SUV in Portland, Maine on January 23, 2026. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

A number of observers have also said their Global Entry status was revoked after interacting with federal immigration officials. The program is run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, another DHS agency, and allows expedited processing for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. In January, a DHS official sent a memo to some federal immigration agents temporarily assigned to Minneapolis instructing them to collect personal information about protesters and agitators, including license plates, identifications and images, according to CNN reporting. Frost told NPR he has been concerned about law enforcement tracking protesters since he was part of the Black Lives Matter movement and learned police were collecting information on him and other protesters. He said while it may be typical for law enforcement to conduct investigations and determine if someone broke the law and then move on, it is concerning if information on people who are exercising their rights is kept by a large federal department.

"That's the concern, is that we have an agency that's been tasked with immigration enforcement having a database … relating to Americans exercising the First Amendment, which is wrong," Frost told NPR. ICE letter provides nuance after blanket denial At a February congressional hearing, Lyons denied his agency was surveilling U.S. citizens and said: "There is no database for protesters." DHS has repeatedly provided a statement to the media that says, "There is NO database of 'domestic terrorists' run by DHS. We do of course monitor and investigate and refer all threats, assaults and obstruction of our officers to the appropriate law enforcement. Obstructing and assaulting law enforcement is a felony and a federal crime. Our law enforcement methods follow the U.S. constitution."

A mobile billboard that reads "ICE agents aren't above Maine Law. Illegal conduct can be prosecuted" is seen on January 30, 2026 in Portland, Maine. Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America hide caption

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Scott Eisen/Getty Images North America

A department spokesperson provided that statement in response to NPR's inquiry asking if the Lyons' letter still reflected current policy, and again in response to a request for comment about Pantos and Williams' account. At a congressional hearing last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said his department had used facial recognition technology on people gathered outside of Delaney Hall, an immigration detention center in New Jersey that has been the site of recent protests that have led to intense clashes between some individuals and federal agents. Dozens of people have been arrested in connection with the demonstrations, including some who are accused of assaulting federal officers. "I have zero tolerance," Mullin said in the hearing. "If you verbally assault our officers, you go after our vehicles, you assault our property, you assault one of our officers, we will find you, we will arrest you." Lyons' April letter began by saying, "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not maintain any kind of database of U.S. citizens protesting ICE activities."