Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) subpoenaed BuzzFeed News this week in an attempt to identify the news organization’s sources, according to BuzzFeed News.
The subpoena, issued on Tuesday, is demanding that BuzzFeed News “provide all documentation including, but not limited to: (1) date of receipt, (2) method of receipt, (3) source of document, and (4) contact information for the source of the document” regarding emails sent to ICE attorneys about a program that would “fast-track” deportation and fine undocumented immigrants by Dec. 22, according to BuzzFeed News.
“BuzzFeed News emphatically rejects any requests for information about possible sources and methods of our reporting,” BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Mark Schoofs said. “We do not confirm or discuss confidential sources, and this subpoena is an outrageous overreach by the federal government. It’s fundamentally at odds with the US Constitution and will not have any impact on our journalism.”
“Failure to comply with this summons will render you liable to proceedings in a U.S. District Court to enforce compliance with this summons as well as other sanctions,” the document said, according to BuzzFeed News. “You are requested not to disclose the existence of this summons for an indefinite period of time. Any such disclosure will impede this investigation and thereby interfere with the enforcement of federal law.”
In October, BuzzFeed News reported that ICE officials had begun implementing a “policy that allows officers to arrest and rapidly deport undocumented immigrants who have been in the US for less than two years,” citing internal emails and documents obtained by the news organization.
Representatives for ICE did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.