The Trump administration has directed its personnel to safeguard records amid a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to comply with legal obligations to preserve text messages and other electronic data.

In an eight-page joint status report submitted on Friday, DHS and the watchdog group American Oversight alerted a district judge about a government-issued directive. This notice instructed specific officials to maintain documents and electronic records pertinent to the lawsuit’s subject matter.

The lawsuit, filed in October under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), claims that DHS’s statement about discarding “text message data” post-April 9, 2025, contravenes the Federal Records Act. This action is seen as a failure to uphold the legal standards for record preservation.

Recently, DHS acknowledged its missteps, attributing the issue to technological changes that resulted in “misunderstanding” and the dissemination of “erroneous information” concerning its record-keeping capabilities to American Oversight.

The lawsuit emerged after the group sought access to text messages and electronic records, such as Signal messages and emails, involving DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other DHS officials. The requested materials pertain to several topics, including the National Guard’s deployment to Los Angeles, the contentious detention center dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” cases involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and communications involving Philip Hegseth, identified as a senior advisor at the Pentagon and DHS liaison, who is also the brother of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Now, DHS says officials are being told to maintain the relevant records.

From the filing, at length:

To most expeditiously collect and confirm preservation of the electronic messages for these DHS Officials, [the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)] deployed technicians to manually access the device and archive a copy of the device, including all electronic messages. As of November 14, 2025, OCIO has completed this effort for all of the officials named above…These copies are being stored on a secure, restricted OCIO server. A notice to preserve documents and electronic records that relate to the subject matter of the complaint in this case has also been issued to each of these officials.

The nonprofit group hailed the development.

“Weeks after admitting it provided ‘erroneous’ information about whether Secretary Noem and other senior DHS officials’ text messages were saved, DHS has finally put these officials on notice to follow the law and properly preserve these records, which belong to the American people,” American Oversight Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said in a press release. “These messages may shed light on decisions that profoundly impacted the lives of real families’ futures, led to wrongful deportations, and put vulnerable communities at risk. The public deserves to know the truth about the government’s actions, and we will continue pressing for answers and transparency.”

The Trump administration has also agreed to provide the group with a forthcoming response to another agency.

In that response, DHS will provide information to the National Archive and Records Administration (NARA) about a Sept. 3, letter directing DHS to investigate and explain how its record-retention policies for text messages comply with the FRA.

The joint status report also offers a detailed explanation for why DHS initially provided the erroneous information to the watchdog.

Again, the filing, at length:

[T]he DHS Privacy Office (PRIV) mistakenly stated that it was unable to locate or identify any responsive records as DHS no longer had the capability to conduct a search of electronic messages. After further review, PRIV acknowledged that OCIO could still conduct searches for electronic messages consistent with existing DHS records management policy, which requires custodians to manually save screen shots of electronic messages that contain federal records to DHS systems. This mistake led to a premature response being issued.

Notably, however, the joint status report does not necessarily indicate the Trump administration is still in possession of all the records responsive to the group’s original FOIA request.

And, while praising the new state of affairs, the group also set out a cautious stance for record retention policies going forward – saying the potential record-keeping deficiency may still run afoul of FRA.

“[B]ecause DHS relies on employees to screenshot and self-archive many electronic messages — a method that is not centrally searchable, as the government’s declaration explains — this deficiency extends far beyond the records at issue here, affecting any electronic communication archived outside the government’s forensic tools,” the group added in their press release about the notice.