Why Should Delaware Care?
Delaware labor officials and the Trump administration are at odds over whether immigration enforcement officials should have access to residents’ sensitive data. A Wednesday court hearing comes as a bill to restrict some state departments from sharing immigration information with federal officials is being considered by Delaware lawmakers.
Delaware’s top federal judge grilled attorneys from the state Department of Labor as they argued against complying with federal immigration officials’ efforts to obtain information about businesses suspected of employing undocumented employees.
Delaware District Court Chief Judge Colm Connolly interrogated Jennifer-Kate Aaronson, an attorney with the Delaware Department of Labor, during a lengthy Wednesday morning hearing, in which he questioned the legal basis of Aaronson’s argument for not complying with an administrative subpoena from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The case stems from a subpoena ICE issued to the Delaware Department of Labor in April 2025 seeking wage records for 15 Delaware businesses for the final two quarters of 2024, which the agency suspected of employing undocumented immigrants.
Connolly did not issue a ruling on Wednesday, and it remains unclear when one may come down.
Aaronson contended on Wednesday the subpoena is “overly burdensome,” and complying with it would hinder the normal operations of the state DOL. Disclosing the information, she added, would damage the trust between employers and the department.
Providing the information to ICE also would jeopardize the State Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which is funded by employer contributions and provides unemployment benefits to eligible workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own, she said.
Aaronson also argued that the DOL did not have to provide the information to ICE because the request fell under an exception in federal regulation law.
The subpoena, which originated from “hotline tips” that ICE received, sought employees’ names, addresses, wages and Social Security numbers from 15 Delaware businesses, according to court records. ICE’s subpoena efforts align with the Trump administration’s broader strategy of using federal and state agency data to bolster its promised immigration enforcement push.
Attorneys with the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued in court documents that wage records would help ICE further its focus on “worksite enforcement” and may help determine whether employees are using fake Social Security numbers or if employers are paying workers “under the table,” or using cash and without reporting it to the IRS, court records show.
Claudia Pare, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Delaware who represented ICE’s case Wednesday, argued the DOL is legally required to comply with the subpoena. Connolly appeared to agree with Pare’s arguments.
The DOL is not exempt from complying with a federal subpoena, Connolly said as he read the corresponding federal regulation law statutes aloud to the court.
Connolly publicly dissected the regulations that Aaronson cited by projecting his computer tab onto a large screen at the head of the courtroom. He asked Aaronson where the law shows the DOL has “full discretion” to decide not to comply with a federal subpoena as he highlighted law text.
Aaronson was not able to point to a specific subsection of the regulations in response, but she maintained that disclosure of sensitive information to ICE has never been mandated by federal law.
Connolly, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018, said it was not Aaronson’s “best day” when she wrote the legal brief presenting her case.
Delaware’s U.S. Attorney Ben Wallace said in a written statement that compliance with a federal subpoena is not optional, even when the recipient is a state.
“We are confident the District Court will see things the same way, and we eagerly await its decision,” Wallace said.
Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings sat in the gallery during Wednesday’s hearing.
Latest chapter in subpoena saga
The court case was first filed in July 2025 by Julianne Murray, Delaware’s former interim U.S. attorney who was appointed by the Trump administration that same month. Murray stepped down in December after Delaware’s federal judges rejected her as Trump’s handpicked appointee, and instead selected Murray’s first assistant, Benjamin Wallace, for the role.
Pare, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, asked Connolly to seal the April subpoena when the case was first filed, arguing that ICE did not want to have the 15 business names become public and “prematurely alert” the targets of the agency’s worksite investigations.
Aaronson then filed a motion to unseal the subpoena in August. The 15 businesses suspected of hiring undocumented immigrants should have the opportunity to come to court and argue against their information being transmitted to ICE, she said during a previous court hearing.
While Connolly did not officially rule on the motion to unseal the subpoena Wednesday, he said it remained a good decision to keep the subpoena under seal. If suspected businesses are made public and associated with potentially hiring undocumented employees, it could harm their reputation if they’re ultimately found to be innocent, he said.
DOL officials received at least four subpoenas from ICE since February 2025, Aaronson said during an August court hearing. Department officials complied with one ICE subpoena that sought information about a single individual, Aaronson said.
In December, Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover) introduced legislation, House Bill 238, that would bar the Delaware departments of finance and labor from disclosing information about a person’s citizenship or immigration status included in any tax return, tax document or database within both departments.
To disclose that information, DOL employees would need to get approval from the Delaware Attorney General or a court order associated with a felony criminal investigation. House Bill 238 would also make the disclosure of the information, without prior approval or court order, a misdemeanor.
The legislation is awaiting consideration in the House Revenue & Finance committee.
It’s unclear how Lynn’s bill, if passed, would affect the subpoena case and any subsequent subpoena the DOL receives from ICE.
While Connolly did not issue a ruling in the case Wednesday, he appeared to support the federal officials’ arguments. It remains unclear when a ruling could come down.
