In 2025, Trump administration officials—primarily at the Departments of State and Homeland Security—created a mass surveillance program to monitor constitutionally protected speech by noncitizens lawfully present in the U.S. Using AI and other automated technologies, the program has surveilled the social media accounts of visa holders and lawful permanent residents with the goal of identifying and punishing those who express viewpoints the government doesn't like. And the list of viewpoints the government doesn’t like just keeps on growing. This has been paired with a public intimidation campaign, silencing not just noncitizens with immigration status, but also the families, coworkers, and friends with whom their lives are integrated.

Three labor unions, represented by EFF and co-counsel, sued the Departments of State and Homeland Security because this viewpoint-based surveillance program violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act. We seek to stop this unconstitutional surveillance program which has silenced and frightened both citizens and noncitizens, and hampered the ability of the unions to associate with their members and potential members. We filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The plaintiffs are United Automobile Workers (UAW), Communications Workers of America (CWA), and American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Our co-counsel are Muslim Advocates (MA) and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic (MFIA).