ICE investigating 15 Delaware businesses suspected of employing undocumented immigrants

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Federal authorities in Delaware and Gov. Matt Meyer’s administration have locked horns over a four-month-old subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for payroll records of 15 businesses suspected of illegally “employing undocumented aliens,’’ U.S. District Court records show.

Most records in the case filed last week in Wilmington are under seal, including the April subpoena and an affidavit by federal Homeland Security Investigations special agent Kimberly Caraway. Records that have been made public in the court file provide the general contours of the battle but not the names of the companies being targeted by ICE.

ICE has been “investigating reports that various businesses” have been breaking immigration hiring laws since February, according to a motion filed last week by Julianne Murray, the interim U.S. Attorney for Delaware, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Claudia Pare.

That’s one month after President Donald Trump began his second term with a pledge to mount a vigorous and sustained crackdown on illegal immigration. Raids and roundups by ICE agents, and subsequent deportations, have occurred frequently across the country, including a controversial effort in Los Angeles that saw Trump federalize and deploy the California National Guard and deploy U.S. Marines to the nation’s second-largest city.

The motion by Murray and Para sought to seal the subpoena to the state Department of Labor and Caraway’s affidavit. The subpoena sought “the production of wage reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2024 for fifteen Delaware businesses” that were identified “by their names, addresses, and file numbers,” the motion said.

The federal prosecutors wrote that Caraway explained in her subpoena that “wage reports can be useful to HSI’s investigation” because getting them covertly from the state “does not alert the business that they are under investigation.”

Should a company suspected of breaking the law “become aware they are under investigation, they may take action to negatively influence the investigation, including fabricating records and firing employees,’’ Murray and Pare wrote.

Murray was chair of the Delaware Republican Party until last month, when fellow Republican Trump made her the state’s chief federal law enforcement officer, at least for now. Murray, a former candidate for Delaware attorney general and governor, has not been formally nominated for the post, which requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Murray declined to comment through a spokesperson.

U.S. District Court Judge Colm Connolly consented to Murray and Pare’s motion to keep the subpoena and Caraway’s affidavit under seal.

The prosecutors want Connolly to enforce the subpoena for the businesses’ records, but an attorney for the Department of Labor told him in court this week that the state will be contesting it.

The judge has ordered the state and Murray’s office to file written arguments in support of their positions within the next two weeks. Connolly, a Republican and former U.S. attorney for Delaware, has given no indication when he would rule.

Meyer, a Democrat, issued a statement condemning the subpoena.

“Since taking office in January, our administration has consistently prioritized protecting Delawareans from federal overreach that undermines our core values of fairness, dignity, and community trust,’’ Meyer said. “The recent federal subpoena directed at the Department of Labor is precisely the kind of government intrusion that we have fought against. Hard-working Delawareans deserve to have their rights and privacy protected. Delaware will continue to uphold the law, protect individual rights, and promote a compassionate and inclusive state for every resident.”

“The recent federal subpoena directed at the Department of Labor is precisely the kind of government intrusion that we have fought against. Hard-working Delawareans deserve to have their rights and privacy protected. Delaware will continue to uphold the law, protect individual rights, and promote a compassionate and inclusive state for every resident.”

Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order targeting “sanctuary cities,” where cooperation with federal immigration enforcement is limited. This week, the Dept. of Justice published a list of jurisdictions that would face litigation as DOJ works “closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”

That list includes the entire state of Delaware and other nearby locations including Philadelphia and Baltimore County, Maryland.

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.