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Federal judge hands Biden’s home state a loss in battle of ICE access to labor data
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A federal judge ordered Delaware officials to turn over confidential employer and employee data to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), delivering a legal defeat to former President Joe Biden’s home state in a dispute over immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly ruled that the Delaware Department of Labor (DDOL) must comply with a federal subpoena seeking wage reports and employee records from 15 businesses as part of an investigation into the suspected hiring of undocumented workers.
Delaware officials argued they could refuse the request and warned that compliance would harm worker reporting and state programs, but Connolly rejected that position.
«This is a political argument; not a legal one,» Connolly wrote. «This Court is not the proper ‘forum in which to air [DDOL’s] generalized grievances about the conduct of government.’ It would be wholly inappropriate for me to consider this line of argument, and I decline to do so.»
DOJ SUES NEW JERSEY OVER EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITING ICE COOPERATION, EXPANDING SANCTUARY STATUS
The J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware. A federal judge ordered the state’s labor department to turn over employer wage records to Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an immigration investigation. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
The records include employees’ names, Social Security numbers and wages reported to the state as part of its unemployment insurance system.
Federal investigators said the records will help identify potentially fraudulent Social Security numbers, compare reported employees to workers observed on-site and detect off-the-books labor.
Connolly, a Trump-appointed judge, wrote that the subpoena was lawful, relevant to a legitimate investigation and not overly burdensome for the state to fulfill.
The subpoena seeks 30 records covering two quarters for the 15 businesses, which the judge said would not be burdensome for the state to produce.
He also dismissed Delaware’s argument that sharing the data would harm its unemployment insurance system, calling the claim unsupported.
«I am neither willing nor able to adopt DDOL’s cynical view of the State’s employers,» Connolly wrote.
FEDERAL JUDGE WHO ORDERED NO WARRANTLESS ICE ARRESTS IN COLORADO ASSERTS DOJ NOT COMPLYING
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at work. A federal judge in Delaware ordered state officials to turn over labor data to ICE as part of an immigration investigation. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
The ruling marks a setback for Delaware in its battle over ICE’s access to state labor data, as the federal government moves to expand immigration enforcement.
The court said Delaware officials ignored the subpoena and failed to respond even after a follow-up warning from federal prosecutors.
Delaware’s newly appointed U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wallace said the ruling reinforces that federal law applies broadly.
Wilmington, Delaware skyline on the Christina River at dusk. (Walter Bibikow/Getty Images)
«We are gratified that the court recognized the simple truth at the core of this case: federal law applies to everyone, whether they are a state or private entity, and whether they agree or disagree with the federal government’s policy priorities,» Wallace told the Delaware News Journal.
The dispute escalated after Delaware ignored multiple ICE subpoenas in early 2025, prompting the federal government to sue for enforcement. State officials have not said whether they plan to appeal.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Delaware Department of Labor, the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and DHS and ICE for comment.
Read the ruling below.
immigration, federal judges, enforcement, delaware, justice department
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The partisan battle over midterm elections is heating up in Washington, D.C., with accusations flying that both sides are trying to rig the outcome in November.
Republicans are trying to hold on to their majority in both chambers, while Democrats are trying to pounce on sluggish legislating, infighting and rising costs in their quest to take over the House, Senate or both.
And President Donald Trump is already accusing Democrats of election interference months before Election Day.
SCHUMER, DEMS LAUNCH ‘FREE AND FAIR’ ELECTIONS TASK FORCE AS TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT STUMBLES
President Donald Trump accused Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats of trying to «interfere in our elections» with their newly launched election integrity task force. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
«The Democrats are totally unhinged, and we will not allow them to threaten the integrity of our Elections,» Trump said on Truth Social.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats recently launched a «free and fair elections task force» that would recruit the likes of former Attorney General Eric Holder and Marc Elias, who Trump charged was «a terrible lawyer with a horrible track record.»
«Palestinian Chuck Schumer is hiring Eric Holder, famous for handing guns to Mexican cartels under the Barack Hussein Obama administration, as part of a Democrat-led ‘Election Integrity Group’ that will no doubt try to suppress Republican voters, and interfere in our Elections,» Trump said on Truth Social.
Schumer and Senate Democrats debuted the elections task force as Republicans struggle to move forward on voter ID and citizenship verification legislation, and on the heels of the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision that is expected to further crank up the redistricting arms race across the country.
REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE
Voters arrive at a polling location at the Burton Barr Central Library on Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
«Donald Trump and the Republicans realize that if the election were held fairly, that the likelihood is that they would lose, and we would win, that we would take back the House, take back the Senate,» Schumer said.
«So they are doing all kinds of nefarious things, some of them legal, some of them not so legal, to try and overturn a fair result in an election,» he continued.
Schumer described the task force’s mission as seeking out «election threats,» including actions at the administrative level by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), attacks on the First Amendment, foreign threats and militarization of law enforcement at the polls.
Trump countered that in the 2024 election cycle, Republicans mounted an «Election Integrity Army in every single State to preserve the sanctity of each legal vote.»
«We will be doing the same again in 2026, but it will be much bigger and stronger,» Trump said. «All Americans should have their voices be heard by casting a vote. Be assured this Election will be fair!»
Its inception is in response to what Democrats say is a «comprehensive effort» by Trump and his administration to undermine the upcoming election, particularly through efforts to pass the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act.
TWO DOZEN HOUSE REPUBLICANS GO TO WAR WITH SENATE GOP OVER SAVE AMERICA ACT
The SAVE America Act, or a version of it pushed by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., failed last month when four Republicans joined Democrats to kill it. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump has strongly pushed Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, which would create federal voter ID laws, require proof of citizenship to register to vote and share information on voter rolls with DHS. Democrats say the legislation would disenfranchise millions of Americans.
But Republicans aren’t unified behind the legislation. The SAVE America Act, or a version of it pushed by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., failed last month when four Republicans joined Democrats to kill it.
He has also called on Republicans to nationalize elections, and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin didn’t rule out sending federal immigration agents to polling places in the fall during his confirmation hearing earlier this year.
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It’s part of what Democrats charge is a concerted effort to tip the scales in the upcoming elections.
«Donald Trump doesn’t think he did too much in 2020 to steal the election,» Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said. «He thinks he did too little, and so that’s why you are seeing, already, a comprehensive effort to try to rig and steal the fall election.»
homeland security, democrats elections, midterm elections, republicans elections, senate elections
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Despidos masivos en Irán a medida que las empresas sucumben ante las presiones de la guerra
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Conservative House Republicans are escalating a fight over government surveillance as Congress reopens debate this week on a controversial warrantless spying program.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus are pledging to hold firm on adding a permanent ban on central bank digital currency (CBDC) to any legislation that reauthorizes Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). But the proposal faces widespread opposition from Senate Democrats and is viewed as dead on arrival in the upper chamber.
The cross-chamber standoff threatens to complicate Congress’ ability to meet a mid-June deadline to renew the spy law, which the Trump administration argues is a critical national security tool.
«If the Senate thinks they’re going to keep rolling over us, it’s just not going to happen,» Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said at a news conference in late April, referring to the Senate’s opposition to including a CBDC ban in a FISA renewal bill.
Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the Freedom Caucus, speaks to reporters alongside other members in the U.S. Capitol on March 27, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
SPEAKER JOHNSON ONE STEP CLOSER TO RENEWING CONTROVERSIAL SPY PROGRAM AFTER CONSERVATIVES FALL IN LINE
Both chambers in April approved a 45-day FISA extension to allow for more time for negotiations. House GOP privacy hawks objected to the short-term measure, citing its omission of a CBDC ban.
«CBDC can still make it across the finish line. Let’s just push on,» the Texas Republican added. «The Senate will respond to the people if they push hard enough. I’m positive on it.»
GOP privacy hawks argue a CBDC ban is a critical privacy guardrail against the Federal Reserve issuing a digital currency that could be used to surveil and potentially cut access to Americans’ financial transactions.
«They don’t want the government monitoring their bank accounts, telling them what they can buy, when they can buy it and when they’re not allowed to buy,» Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said at a news conference, referring to his constituents’ concerns about a government-issued digital token.
The group has repeatedly sought to add a CBDC ban to various legislation over the past year, but has not yet been able to get a permanent ban on President Donald Trump’s desk.
During his confirmation hearing, Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh said he would not issue a CBDC during his term, calling the proposal a «bad policy choice.»
Kevin Warsh, incoming chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has called a government-issued digital currency a «bad policy choice.» (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
HOUSE GOP SLAMMED BY CONSERVATIVES FOR JOINING DEMS ON CONTROVERSIAL ‘KILL SWITCH’ AMENDMENT
The push to ban CBDCs is part of a broader effort by conservative Republicans to ramp up their fight against government surveillance.
«Americans don’t want Big Brother in their cars, their bank accounts, or their homes,» a spokesperson for the conservative House Freedom Caucus told Fox News Digital. «The gloves are coming off before FISA expires on June 12.»
Roy, the HFC’s policy chief, is pushing to repeal a Biden-era provision requiring a federal agency to draft a rule mandating impaired driver technology in new cars that could shut off vehicles if drunk driving is detected. The federal government has not yet moved forward with drafting the «kill switch» regulation.
«Do you really want to put that kind of data collection mandated inside every car? At what point is there just literally no privacy at all anywhere?» Roy said during a hearing in late April in support of adding a «kill switch» repeal amendment to FISA extension legislation.
GOP privacy hawks have also advocated for language that would add a judicial warrant requirement to the FISA renewal bill. While the law targets foreigners overseas using U.S. platforms, their communications with Americans can also be swept up and reviewed.
Privacy advocates in the Democratic Party have also long pushed for a warrant requirement to gather information on Americans.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has argued that a clean authorization of FISA Section 702 «is off the table» due to widespread opposition in Congress to extend the law without reforms. (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
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The Trump administration initially sought a clean 18-month extension of the spy law, but quickly ran into problems with a mix of conservative and progressive privacy hawks.
«We’re not going to pass something that’s a long-term, clean reauthorization,» Roy said. «I think that’s been taken off the table. We’ve demonstrated that, and we’re going to get reforms.»
politics, congress, republicans, privacy
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