1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

Block DHS and DOJ from forcing Maine residents to hand over private Signal group chats in the Hilton v. Noem case. The government is using civil discovery to demand access to community communications — including who organized the chats, who participated, and what their beliefs are about law enforcement. That is not legitimate litigation. That is a surveillance operation dressed up in legal paperwork. These chats exist because neighbors wanted to know when ICE was operating on their streets. That is constitutionally protected activity. One plaintiff was already told by DHS agents that her face scan and license plate were going into "a nice little database" — just for watching a federal operation in public. Now the government wants the private communications of people who weren't even named in the lawsuit. As FIRE senior attorney Adam Steinbaugh put it, you shouldn't have to surrender your First Amendment right to expressive association just to defend your First Amendment rights in court. Speak out against this overreach and push for congressional oversight of DHS and ICE's surveillance of immigration critics. Communities organizing lawfully to protect themselves deserve protection, not investigation.