ACLU sues Trump administration over alleged racial profiling and unlawful ICE arrests in Minnesota
WASHINGTON, DC: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that the federal immigration authorities in Minnesota engaged in racial profiling and unlawful arrests amid rising Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, January 15, was brought on behalf of three US citizens who have accused the ICE agents of violating their constitutional rights. The complaint alleges that Somali and Latino communities in the state have been disproportionately targeted.
ACLU lawsuit alleges 'startling pattern of abuse' in Minnesota
The 72-page lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and several other Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, accusing them of a “startling pattern of abuse spearheaded by the Department of Homeland Security … that is fundamentally altering civic life in the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota.”
According to the filing, “masked federal agents in the thousands are violently stopping and arresting countless Minnesotans based on nothing more than their race and perceived ethnicity, irrespective of their citizenship or immigration status, or their personal circumstances.”
“At the center of DHS’s campaign are Somali and Latino people, who are being targeted for stops and arrests based on racial profiling motivated by prejudice,” the lawsuit states.
ACLU lawsuit accuses DHS of discriminatory practices
The ACLU alleges that the DHS has operated a “crude dragnet” that captures “non-citizens, including individuals with immigration status, without warrants or any lawful basis for arrest.”
“And its discriminatory practices also sweep in numerous US citizens in the process, shackling them and scanning their faces while ignoring documentation of US citizenship,” the lawsuit adds.
One of the plaintiffs is Mubashir Khalif Hussen, 20, who alleged that he was unlawfully detained in December 2025 while walking to lunch in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.
According to the complaint, Hussen was placed in a headlock without being asked for identification and transported to the Whipple Federal Building in South Minneapolis.
Hussen was allegedly shackled, fingerprinted, and denied medical care and water before being released.
Explaining his ordeal, Hussen said, “At no time did any officer ask me whether I was a citizen or if I had any immigration status. They did not ask for any identifying information, nor did they ask about my ties to the community, how long I had lived in the Twin Cities, my family in Minnesota, or anything else about my circumstances.”
Another plaintiff, 25-year-old Mahamed Eydarus, alleges that he and his mother saw masked federal agents in plain clothes and were questioned about their legal status.
The agents allegedly questioned them for speaking Somali, referring to it as a “foreign language.”
ACLU calls out government for arresting people 'based on the color of their skin'
In a statement, ACLU of Minnesota attorney Catherine Ahlin-Halverson said, “ICE and CBP’s practices are both illegal and morally reprehensible.”
“Federal agents’ conduct — sweeping up Minnesotans through racial profiling and unlawful arrests — is a grave violation of Minnesotans’ most fundamental rights, and it has spread fear among immigrant communities and neighborhoods. No one, including federal agents, is above the law,” she said.
Kate Huddleston, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, added, “The government can’t stop and arrest people based on the color of their skin, or arrest people with no probable cause.”
