Full Breakdown
Federal Agents Track Anti-ICE Critic to New York City Hotel, Raising Surveillance Questions
7/1/2026, 11:04:53 PM
The Hotel Confrontation: How Agents Found David Streever
On a Tuesday in June, two federal officers—identified as Abbi Henry and Trevor Pitts—arrived at a New York City hotel where Rochester resident David Streever was staying with his daughter. Pitts approached the front desk just before 9:55 p.m., asked for Streever, and left a business card. Hotel staff later called Streever to inform him that an agent was seeking him. The method by which the agents located Streever’s room has not been disclosed.
Background: ICE Criticism and the 2023 Executive Order
In September 2023, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on “Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” The order classified opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a tactic used by domestic terrorists. Streever’s sharply worded January letter to acting ICE director Todd Lyons, which predicted Lyons’s downfall but contained no threats, fell within the order’s expanded definition of hostile speech.
Timeline of Key Incidents
- January – Streever sends a critical letter to Todd Lyons.
- June 23 – Agents hand poll worker Paigelynne Gonyea a written warning at a Syracuse polling place.
- Early June (Tuesday) – Agents visit Streever’s Rochester home while he is abroad in Finland, leaving a business card.
- Two days later – Streever returns via JFK, checks into a New York City hotel with his daughter.
- Just before 9:55 p.m. – Trevor Pitts arrives at the hotel, asks for Streever, and leaves a business card.
Official Statements & Responses
Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis declined to comment on the incident. Both agents Henry and Pitts refused questions from Syracuse.com. Requests for information from DHS, ICE, and Customs and Border Protection have not been answered.
Criticism & Opposition
Civil-rights attorneys and privacy advocates, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, argue the episode illustrates unlawful data-gathering. A February class-action lawsuit filed by Protect Democracy alleges that DHS collected personal information on ICE critics, labeled them domestic terrorists, and threatened to add them to a database, raising First Amendment concerns. Critics also note past use of the Transaction Record Analysis Center (TRAC) for financial surveillance, which was curtailed after public scrutiny.
Verbatim Quotes
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
All sources confirm that agents located Streever at a hotel, but they differ on how the location was identified—travel records, credit-card data, or other surveillance. No agency has publicly explained the method.
What’s Next
Streever intends to ask his credit-card company to investigate any reservation trail. Ongoing litigation and pending journalistic inquiries may prompt further disclosures from DHS, ICE, or Customs and Border Protection.
