VICTORY: Federal court says ICE threatened critic by serving him with “Warning Notice” over an email

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2026 — A federal court on Tuesday ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop violating the First Amendment by threatening a Rochester man over a January email in which he criticized the then-director of ICE.

In a 43-page ruling, Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the government’s pursuit of David Streever “practically shouts” that he could be prosecuted “if he continues to engage in his political speech.”

In January, Streever sent then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons an email criticizing the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. After hearing nothing for months, he was then pursued in June by federal officials, who said his note “may” have constituted a criminal threat — a preposterous claim given that it took Homeland Security five months to respond to it. And it’s a claim they could not back up in court.

Streever, who is represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, sued the government in July for violating his First Amendment rights to criticize and petition government officials.  

“Mr. Streever’s injury is the loss of his freedom to engage in political speech now because the threat of such an investigation or prosecution looms over him like the sword of Damocles, and he is forced to self-censor under that threat,” Contreras wrote in his ruling.

The ruling deals a significant blow to ICE’s efforts to retaliate against its critics and intimidate them into silence, ending the flimsy campaign against Streever. 

“I’m deeply relieved that the court affirmed what I knew all along: that I am permitted to speak my conscience in the United States of America, including when I criticize government officials,” Streever said. “While I wish this ordeal hadn’t happened, hopefully this incident will serve as a reminder that the First Amendment protects us all.”

COURTESY PHOTOS OF DAVID FOR MEDIA USE

In court documents, the government confirmed that ICE agents are authorized to issue a warning notice letter if someone “may” have violated federal law. As Streever’s experience shows, that means ICE can issue coercive demands that its critics “promptly remove and/or discontinue” their speech or risk “federal and state prosecution” — even if their speech is wholly protected by the First Amendment. In court, the United States government did not even attempt to argue Streever’s speech was an unprotected “true threat.” 

“ICE knowingly pursued an American citizen for criticizing his government — speech that is at the heart of the First Amendment,” said FIRE Senior Attorney Adam Steinbaugh. “Ominous letters warning people their speech might land them in prison are meant to coerce people into silence, and that’s not how the First Amendment works.”

“YOU MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW”

In January, federal immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis ICU nurse, during a tense encounter. Outraged, Streever wrote a stern email to Lyons, entitled “What’s next” and calling the official a “monstrous human being” who will “go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher,” a reference to the infamous Nazi official.

He never heard back. Then, five months later, Streever was in Finland with his 7-year-old daughter when his home’s front-door camera picked up the presence of two ICE agents on his porch. The Nest video shows the agents, arriving late in the afternoon on a sunny Tuesday, walking past children’s toys as they climb the steps and repeatedly ring the doorbell. But nobody was home yet. Soon, though, Streever’s wife, an Episcopal priest, still wearing her clergy collar, arrived to find the agents still present.

One of them handed her a “WARNING NOTICE” directed to Streever that claimed, “YOU MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW” for sending his email to the ICE director. The notice insisted that he should “promptly … discontinue” his “behavior,” threatened criminal prosecution, and warned that the notice will be “taken into consideration” if he “continue[s] to be involved” in “criminal activities.”

Streever’s wife told the agents he was out of the country and would return to Rochester that Friday — but federal agents did not wait. While Streever and his daughter slept off some jet lag at a New York City hotel before the last leg of the trip back to Rochester, a federal agent showed up at the front desk looking for him. He left a clerk a business card to give to Streever, whom the clerk called to inform that an agent had been by. Also that night, two agents repeatedly called Streever’s phone, leaving anonymous voicemails identifying themselves only as “Homeland Security Investigations.”

If agents showing up at his home wasn’t unsettling enough, the hotel visit greatly alarmed Streever. His wife hadn’t told authorities where he was staying. Homeland Security found him anyway. 

On their train ride home, Streever informed his daughter about the possibility that federal agents might confront him. The girl broke down in tears, worried about her father’s safety. Streever then resolved to fight this abuse of power.

Make no mistake: Streever’s email was fully protected speech. Telling the director of ICE that he would carry a guilty conscience around with him for the rest of his life, at the pinnacle of public debate over ICE actions, is no crime. It’s at the core of the First Amendment freedoms to free speech and to petition government officials. Simply put, ICE wanted to bully Streever into silence, but the Constitution stood firmly in its way.

“I cherish our right to speak openly about issues of public concern,” Streever said in July. “I hope others will not be discouraged from peacefully expressing their views, even when those views are critical of the government.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE educates Americans about the importance of these inalienable rights, promotes a culture of respect for these rights, and provides the means to preserve them.

CONTACT:

Karl de Vries, Director of Media Relations, FIRE: 215-717-3473; media@fire.org