Lawsuit Seeks DHS Records on Tracking of Americans’ First Amendment Activity

For immediate release: June 25, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Steady State, an organization of more than 415 former national security, intelligence, diplomatic, military, law enforcement, and homeland security officials, today filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for failing to release records about the agency’s monitoring of citizens engaged in constitutionally protected protest and political speech.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia with assistance from public interest law firm Free Information Group, seeks documents related to the monitoring and suppression of protected expression, including records about systems the agency has used to collect license plates, biometric data, and personal information about individuals at demonstrations. To date, no documents have been obtained, nor is there any indication that these documents will be provided in the foreseeable future in accordance with FOIA’s deadlines.

DHS was legally required to respond to The Steady State’s record request made on April 6, 2026, by May 4, which required DHS to provide:

1. All records demonstrating the manner in which DHS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) collect and use mass surveillance data pertaining to Americans for retaliatory purposes.
2. Second, The Steady State requests records that provide explanations of what constitutes a “domestic terrorist,” as well as definitions of terms including, but not limited to, “domestic terrorism,” “stalking,” “doxing or doxxing,” “obstructing,” “impeding,” “anti-American,” “anti-Christianity,” “anti-Fascism,” “anti- capitalism,” “support for the overthrow of the United States Government,” “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” and “hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

“It is absolutely critical that Americans understand how their own government is defining what it considers their internal enemies based on their beliefs and First Amendment expressions,” said Steven Cash, Executive Director of The Steady State.

The lawsuit also alleges that DHS has violated federal law both by missing mandatory response deadlines and by unlawfully withholding agency records.

“Free expression and the right to protest are core parts of American democracy,” said Ginger Quintero-McCall, partner at Free Information Group, the public interest law firm representing The Steady State. “The public deserves to know if one of the most powerful agencies in the United States government is monitoring dissent and retaliating against people for exercising these important rights.”

About The Steady State

The Steady State is an organization of more than 415 former national security professionals committed to defending American democracy from rising authoritarian threats. Its members include former ambassadors and senior State Department officials, senior CIA, Defense officials, FBI and DHS leaders, USAID and NSC staff, and senior congressional staff from both Republican and Democratic administrations.