House Democrats are asking the National Archives And Records Administration (NARA) to open an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after it told a watchdog group that it was no longer retaining text messages when the nonprofit sought communications about immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.
The letter to Marco Rubio, who is currently serving as the acting archivist, asks for an investigation into whether DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “failed to notify NARA about unlawful destruction of Federal records.”
The request comes a day after American Oversight called for an investigation into DHS’s response to its public records requests, in which the agency told the group that “text message data generated after April 9, 2025, is no longer maintained.”
Government agencies are required to retain public records, including their text messages.
“DHS did not explain why it wrote otherwise in the July 23 letter or why it could produce no text message records in response to American Oversight’s FOIA request,” House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote in the letter to Rubio.
“Given the contradictory statements made by DHS, we ask that NARA open an investigation into this matter.”
DHS and Archives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
American Oversight requested records in July related to DHS’s actions in Los Angeles as the agency conducted widespread raids.
But DHS responded to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request saying it had stopped preserving text messages.
When American Oversight sent follow up requests last week, it received a “no records” response within a matter of hours, as well as a message that DHS “no longer has the capability to conduct a search of text messages.”
“As the administration well knows, preserving records — including text messages — is not optional,” Chioma Chukwu, executive director of the group, said in a statement.
“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.”
The group said the timeline for which DHS stopped retaining text messages “appears to have coincided with heightened public scrutiny of the Trump administration’s wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.”
During the April timeframe, DHS as well as Justice Department officials were in the midst of a heated court battle as Abrego Garcia’s family demanded his release.
Records released by a Justice Department whistleblower show the group discussing the case, including their struggles in an effort to portray him as an MS-13 gang leader.
“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,” American Oversight said in their call for an investigation.