Federal agents tracked a Rochester, New York, man across two continents this summer — to his home, then to a foreign airport, then to a New York City hotel — over a single email he sent criticizing the leadership of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a lawsuit that Homeland Security officials are now defending in court.

David Streever fired off the message on January 26 to then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons, days after federal immigration officers in Minneapolis fatally shot two U.S. citizens who were observing an enforcement operation. In three paragraphs, Streever compared Lyons to a Nazi and predicted he would be tormented by his own conscience, according to court filings reported by NPR. The subject line: "What's next."

Nothing happened for five months. Then, on June 23, two Homeland Security Investigations agents showed up at Streever's house while he was vacationing in Finland with his daughter. They handed his wife a document stamped "WARNING NOTICE," telling Streever he "MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW" for sending the email, according to the complaint filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

Two days later, when Streever's return flight touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport, agents were waiting again — this time following him to his hotel to deliver a second warning notice, raising questions about how closely his travel had been monitored.

"I NEVER DREAMED IT WOULD LEAD TO A KNOCK ON MY DOOR BY FEDERAL OFFICERS."

A First Amendment Fight

FIRE sued the Department of Homeland Security on July 6 in federal court in Washington, D.C., naming three field agents along with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and top ICE officials as defendants. The suit asks a judge to declare Streever's email protected political speech and to bar the government from taking further action against him. Court filings note the investigation into Streever was formally closed at the end of June — after both confrontations.

Justice Department lawyers pushed back in filings this month, arguing that blocking the tactic would "unnecessarily inhibit the government's investigatory prerogative," according to reporting distributed by NPR member stations this week. DHS has not disputed the sequence of events, but maintains agents were authorized to assess whether the email constituted a threat.

Civil liberties groups say the case fits a wider pattern of field agents responding to online criticism rather than conducting routine threat assessments. Streever's attorneys are pressing for a preliminary injunction; no hearing date has been set. Streever, for his part, says he has no regrets about sending the email — only about what came after.