Civil Liberties and Surveillance

A new federal class‑action lawsuit filed in Maine alleges the Department of Homeland Security and its sub‑agencies are violating the First Amendment by surveilling, cataloging and intimidating people who lawfully observe and record immigration‑enforcement operations. The suit, brought by Protect Democracy and two law firms, centers on a January incident in Portland, Maine, where a masked agent scanned observer Colleen Fagan’s face, recorded her license plate and told her on video that DHS keeps a 'nice little database' and now considers her a 'domestic terrorist.' Plaintiffs argue DHS is collecting personal data, using facial recognition and mobile license‑plate scanners, and informally branding peaceful observers and protesters as domestic‑terror suspects in order to chill protected speech, citing similar tactics reported in Minnesota after ICE‑related shootings and protests. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has publicly denied the existence of a DHS‑run 'domestic terrorist' database but acknowledged that the department monitors and investigates threats, assaults and obstruction involving its officers. Civil‑liberties groups, including the ACLU, say that observing and filming federal agents from a safe distance is legal, and dozens of Minnesotans have submitted declarations saying they were wrongly told they were interfering or acting illegally while documenting raids. The case could force a federal court to scrutinize DHS’s use of field biometrics and plate‑reader tools against civilians and to clarify limits on how far the government can go in labeling domestic 'threats' when people film its own officers at work.