DHS ran an undercover surveillance operation against anti-ICE organizing and pulled union and non-profit financial records
The Department of Homeland Security ran an investigation called Operation Puppet Master that sent undercover agents into meetings of groups organizing against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, infiltrated their Signal chats, and obtained financial records of national unions and non-profit organizations.
What happened
Internal investigative reports, released as part of the Justice Department's criminal case against 15 Minneapolis protesters, show that DHS launched the inquiry in January to identify a network of conspirators organizing against ICE. One report documents undercover agent activity on 31 January at a Sunrise Movement resistance skills training at the Minneapolis public library. Investigators used administrative subpoenas to obtain wire transfers to and from the Service Employees International Union, requested Communications Workers of America financial data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and obtained financial records related to the Sunrise Movement. The documents allege that major organizations including the AFL-CIO, the SEIU, two local unions, the Democratic Socialists of America and Showing Up for Racial Justice were connected to the charged conspiracy; none of those organizations has been charged with any crime.
CNN, reporting the same court documents, adds two methods: officers infiltrated meetings in churches, schools and parks that were often simply discussions of constitutionally protected protests, and agents used licence plate numbers to compile names of people who attended gatherings. CNN describes the financial records obtained as "years of certain financial records" for groups ranging from the Sunrise Movement to major unions.
Why it matters
This is the machinery of a terrorism investigation pointed at people organizing against a government policy, and the financial-records demands reached organizations that were never accused of anything. Administrative subpoenas need no judge, so the check that normally stands between a political grievance and a bank record was not in the path.