SYRACUSE — ICE agents visited a polling site in Syracuse, New York, during the state primaries in June. The agents were there to see Paigelynn Gonyea, a poll worker, regarding an Instagram post she reportedly made in January.

Agents from ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) expressed concern about Gonyea's Instagram post regarding the "doxing" of an ICE agent. The post credited the Minnesota Star Tribune for identifying Jonathan Ross as the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good. Gonyea's post also called for the indictment of Ross.

Agents asked Gonyea to sign a warning notice stating that it is unlawful to threaten to assault, kidnap, or murder federal officials or their immediate family members to impede their work. The notice requested that Gonyea remove her post or discontinue her behavior. Gonyea refused to sign the warning notice. "My signature would have been an admission of guilt," Gonyea said. "I refused to sign it."

Gonyea stated that the Office of Professional Responsibility is typically for internal investigations. "That office is supposed to be for internal investigations," Gonyea said, "and now they're using their own internal departments on American civilians." The Office of Professional Responsibility is responsible for inspecting detention facilities, investigating allegations of employee and contractor misconduct, and processing security checks for new applicants.

An ICE official stated in an April court declaration that OPR investigated 131 cases involving incidents of doxing and threats directed towards ICE employees nationwide between January 2025 and March 2026. OPR also issued an administrative subpoena to tech companies to identify one online critic. Lawyers for the poster argued in court filings that the subpoena violated the poster's right to free speech; the government subsequently withdrew it rather than litigating its merits.

Laura Moraff, a staff attorney at the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, noted that convicting someone for their speech is possible only in limited circumstances. Moraff said that individuals have a First Amendment right to criticize the government online, including anonymously. In March 2025, Todd Lyons, then-acting director of ICE, signed a memo to invest in the agency's capabilities to protect employees from emerging threats, including doxing and online harassment.

During an April hearing with the House Appropriations Committee, Lyons provided written testimony that described OPR's work inspecting detention facilities, vetting job applicants, and overseeing the agency's 287(g) program. Lyons did not mention OPR's investigations into online posters in his testimony. Gonyea plans to fight the administration in court. "I know that this issue is going to be bigger than me," Gonyea said. "This is literally about protecting all Americans' right to free speech."

Why It Matters

The interaction between ICE agents and a poll worker at a polling site during state primaries represents an expansion of the Office of Professional Responsibility's activities beyond its traditional scope of internal investigations. The use of administrative subpoenas by OPR to identify online individuals who criticize the agency raises questions regarding First Amendment protections, particularly after the government withdrew a subpoena rather than defending its enforceability in court.

The incident with Gonyea and the broader trend of OPR investigating online speech follows a directive from ICE's acting director to counter threats like doxing against employees. This development comes as ICE's acting director testified about OPR's functions to Congress without mentioning these online speech investigations, indicating a potential divergence in publicly stated responsibilities and actual operational activities.