1. United States
2. Ore.
3. Letter

I'm writing about a disturbing pattern DHS/ICE has escalated in recent months: sending Homeland Security Investigations agents to track down and confront U.S. citizens over constitutionally protected speech. Two recent cases make this concrete. David Streever, a Rochester, NY father, sent a harshly worded email to then-Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons in January criticizing his handling of fatal shootings by immigration agents in Minneapolis. Five months later, Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents showed up at his home while he was on vacation with his 7-year-old daughter, then tracked him to an airport hotel hundreds of miles away and left a "WARNING NOTICE" form threatening prosecution. The same day, the same agents confronted a Syracuse poll worker, Paigelynne Gonyea, over an Instagram post, while she was working a primary election. Civil liberties experts, including attorneys from FIRE and the ACLU, have reviewed these cases and say plainly: this was not a threat. It was pointed criticism and appeals to conscience, which are exactly the kind of speech the First Amendment protects. There's no evidence either person threatened anyone. Yet DHS devoted real investigative resources, across state lines, to locate and intimidate them months after the fact. This isn't an isolated incident. It is part of a documented pattern of DHS/ICE surveilling and confronting protesters, journalists, and ordinary citizens who criticize the agency, including door-knocks over emails to DHS attorneys and reports of a protester database DHS denies exists while providing details of it to Congress. I'm asking you to: - Demand DHS explain, on the record, its legal basis for using investigative resources to track citizens across state lines over non-threatening speech. - Press for oversight hearings on HSI's use of "warning notice" forms as an intimidation tool against critics. -Support legislative safeguards limiting DHS's use of commercial location/surveillance data to track citizens exercising First Amendment rights. A government that dispatches federal agents to hunt down critics for stern emails and social media posts is not protecting anyone. It is trying to silence the speech of everyone watching. I expect you to push back on this assertively.