During a federal trial in Boston, a senior Department of Homeland Security official admitted that most of the student protesters flagged for investigation were identified using Canary Mission, an anonymous pro-Israel website that publicly lists students, professors, and activists accused of anti-Israel or antisemitic views. The trial, brought by several academic organizations, challenges the Trump administration's alleged ideological deportation policy. DHS's Peter Hatch testified that a "tiger team" of analysts—some pulled from counterterrorism units—was tasked with producing intelligence reports on student protesters, using the Canary Mission database as a key input.
Although DHS claimed the website was not treated as an authoritative source and that no official partnership exists, Hatch confirmed that it played a central role in initiating investigations. The Canary Mission database includes personal and political details about individuals, such as protest involvement and employment history, and has been accused of doxxing, harassment, and falsely linking activists to terrorism. The court is weighing whether the government's actions violate First Amendment rights and represent a pattern of politically motivated targeting. The trial continues next week.