Imagine you spoke out against your government’s actions – and in response, federal agents investigated you and showed up at your doorstep to interrogate you.
That’s exactly what happened to our client, and it’s why we filed a court case to stop the government from demanding his address and other personal information as part of its campaign to intimidate critics.
Our client, Jon Doe, read a news article about government attempts to deport a man seeking asylum from Afghanistan, where he could be killed for having helped the United States government against the Taliban.
Appalled by the man’s treatment, Jon emailed the government’s lead attorney at a publicly available email address to politely express his disapproval – simply calling on the Department of Homeland Security to “apply principles of common sense and decency.”
Within hours, DHS had subpoenaed Google for information associated with Jon’s Gmail account, including his address, Social Security number, and driver’s license number. A few weeks later, federal agents came to his home asking questions about the email he had sent asking DHS to protect the asylum seeker.
This is an outrageous overreach. We have the right to criticize the government. Jon merely sent an email to a public official expressing dismay about the official’s conduct of his public duties. Nothing could be closer to what the First Amendment is designed to protect.
That’s why we asked the courts to throw out this subpoena.
The government’s actions are intended to intimidate our client, chill his speech, and punish him for dissent. We won’t let that happen.
From snatching students off the street because of their political views to detaining a journalist for livestreaming ICE raids to flooding our cities with masked federal agents, the Trump administration continues to use its mass deportation agenda as a blanket excuse to degrade our free speech rights.
What our client was put through is yet another example of this government’s blatant abuse of power.
We’ll keep you updated on this work – and always remember, you have the right to speak out.
Together in this fight,
Nate Freed Wessler
Pronouns: He, him, his
Deputy Director, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA