ACLU sues feds over alleged racial profiling in Twin Cities immigration surge

The ACLU of Minnesota filed a class action lawsuit against the federal government on Thursday, Jan. 15, accusing immigration agents of racially profiling Somali and Latino people through unlawful stops and arrests during the current enforcement surge across the Twin Cities.

Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, a lawyer for the civil rights group, said it will seek a preliminary injunction imposing limits on the agents’ actions. During a news conference, she called the immigration enforcement an “ongoing assault against the rights of people in Minnesota who federal agents perceive to be Somali or Latino.”

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, names as defendants Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol and multiple federal officials.

It alleges that agents routinely stop people without reasonable suspicion, arrest individuals without warrants or probable cause and detain U.S. citizens and people with lawful immigration status based on race or perceived ethnicity.

“This is quintessential racial profiling,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit was filed amid repeated attacks by President Donald Trump on Somali immigrants and two days after the federal government said it would end temporary protected status for Somalis in the U.S., requiring those covered by the program to leave the country by March 17.

Minnesota is home to the nation’s largest Somali population, most of whom are U.S. citizens, according to census data.

“What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity," the DHS said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three U.S. citizens — Mubashir Khalif Hussen, 20; Mahamed Eydarus, 25; and Javier Doe, 22 — who allege they were unlawfully detained by federal agents despite repeatedly stating they were U.S. citizens.

Hussen, a Minneapolis resident of Somali descent, alleges he was taken by masked agents during his lunch break in December, forced to the ground in a headlock and handcuffed.

According to the complaint, the agents ignored his statements that he was a citizen and refused to review his passport card, even after his supervisor brought it to the scene.

Hussen says he was later driven to an ICE facility at Fort Snelling and released without charges.

The complaint says agents demanded identification to determine whether he was “illegal,” questioned why he and his mother were speaking a “foreign language” — Somali — and ordered his mother to remove her niqab.

A Latino Richfield resident who works at a Target store and is identified in the lawsuit under the pseudonym Javier Doe alleges Border Patrol agents tackled him in January after he told them he did not have to answer questions about his citizenship.

According to the filing, the agents handcuffed him, pressed a knee into his neck and drove him around in an SUV while playing loud music. They eventually released him in a Walmart parking lot in Bloomington after reviewing his passport, the suit says. He later sought emergency medical care for his injuries.

Besides the three plaintiffs, the complaint includes sworn accounts from numerous other Minnesotans, both citizens and noncitizens, who describe being stopped, detained or arrested by federal agents while going to work, shopping, attending religious services or leaving their homes.

The lawsuit alleges that agents frequently fail to identify themselves, do not present warrants and ignore documentation showing citizenship or lawful status. Several individuals allege the use of excessive force, including tackling, tight handcuffing, pepper spray and physical restraint.

The complaint also cites reports of immigration agents detaining Native American citizens and targeting predominantly immigrant neighborhoods, businesses, hospitals and schools.

The ACLU argues the alleged conduct violates the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, federal immigration law governing warrantless arrests and the equal protection guarantees of the Fifth Amendment.

Under federal law, immigration officers may conduct warrantless arrests only if they have probable cause to believe a person is removable and likely to flee. The lawsuit alleges agents are instead relying on “reasonable suspicion” or appearance alone — a legal standard the ACLU says is insufficient for arrest.

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that the department’s law enforcement uses “reasonable suspicion” to make arrests, which it says is protected under the Fourth Amendment.

“There are no ‘indiscriminate stops’ being made,” the statement said. “The Supreme Court recently vindicated us on this question.”

Civil rights advocates argue the interpretation has emboldened racial profiling and unlawful detentions, particularly during large-scale enforcement operations.

The plaintiffs are seeking to represent several proposed classes, including all people stopped for immigration purposes in Minnesota since Dec. 1, 2025, and subclasses covering those subjected to warrantless arrests or targeted based on race or ethnicity.

The lawsuit asks the court to block federal agencies from continuing the challenged practices and to require the government to expunge records collected through unlawful stops and arrests.

Last month, the ACLU of Minnesota sued federal authorities on behalf of six Twin Cities residents who allege ICE agents used excessive force and intimidation against people observing or recording enforcement actions during a recent surge across Minnesota.