ICE’s threat to critic ‘likely violates’ First Amendment, judge says

A federal judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop threatening a New York man over a January email he wrote criticizing the agency over its response to protests in Minnesota.

The matter stems from David Streever’s email to then-acting ICE director Todd Lyons over immigration officers killing two people – Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti – earlier that month. Streever called Lyons a “monstrous human being,” compared him to Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich and said he would “never know peace,” among other statements, according to court records.

In June, immigration officers knocked on his door while he was abroad and handed his wife a warning notice for "criminal activities," according to the federal lawsuit Streever filed against ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials, including DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, in July.

His wife said he was out of town, and upon his return to the country days later, he checked into a New York City hotel with his daughter; officers tracked down his hotel and dropped off a business card, and they left voicemails on his cellphone, according to the lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras’ Sept. 15 opinion said ICE’s notice threatened prosecution against Streever if he…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/