A tip from a neighbor has placed Arlington resident Nancy Swift under the eye of the federal government.

The school teacher found her home and work visited by groups of federal agents last summer, apparently after a neighbor called authorities to report a tenant of her home, a young Middle Eastern resident, had friends over to visit. The same neighbor also calls authorities when her grass is too long.

Now Swift and her former housemate are speaking out in an investigation by United Press International, calling the investigation invasive, intimidating, and “extreme.” Her tenant, who was from Iran, has moved out of the house.

UPI reported Swift was investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), an initiative created after Sept. 11, 2001 to better coordinate law enforcement agencies’ work investigating terrorism by bringing together local and federal officials.

Swift told UPI she now lives in Kafkaesque ambiguity, uncertain whether she is being spied on – or investigated – and with no recourse. Under the U.S. Patriot Act, and the expansion of use of the secret courts created by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, federal authorities can search private residences, install wiretaps, and seize records in secret and without obtaining a search warrant. It is unknown whether the tenant was found, or if he was guilty of any crime.

In a related matter, Christmas film The Polar Express features a scene where the protagonist stumbles into Santa’s massive surveillance headquarters, where elves overlook a giant screen showing hundreds of sleeping children. Fortunately the North Pole seems slightly behind the times: reports of naughtiness are reported on teletype machines, not by computer.