- “The government can’t stop and arrest people based on the color of their skin, or arrest people with no probable cause.” – Kate Huddleston, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project
By Vanguard Staff
MINNEAPOLIS — The American Civil Liberties Union and its Minnesota affiliate, joined by several private law firms, filed a federal class-action lawsuit Thursday challenging what they describe as a sweeping campaign of suspicionless stops, warrantless arrests and racial profiling by federal immigration authorities in Minnesota.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, names the Trump administration, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and senior federal officials. It was brought by the ACLU, the ACLU of Minnesota, Covington & Burling LLP, Greene Espel PLLP and Robins Kaplan LLP on behalf of three named plaintiffs and others “similarly situated.”
According to the complaint, federal agents have, over the past six weeks, dramatically expanded enforcement operations in the Twin Cities under what the administration has called “Operation Metro Surge,” deploying thousands of agents, many masked and wearing military-style gear. The lawsuit alleges that agents have conducted stops and arrests without warrants or probable cause and have disproportionately targeted people perceived to be Somali or Latino, including U.S. citizens.
The filing comes amid growing local and national scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota following a series of high-profile incidents, including the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Plaintiff Mubashir Khalif Hussen, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen, described being stopped on Dec. 10, 2025, while walking to lunch in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis. In a statement included in the ACLU announcement, Hussen said agents refused to examine his identification despite his repeated assertions of citizenship.
“At no time did any officer ask me whether I was a citizen or if I had any immigration status,” Hussen said. “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.”
Hussen was placed in an SUV, transported to a federal building in south Minneapolis and detained, according to the lawsuit, until he was fingerprinted and produced a photograph of his passport card. He was later released without charges.
The lawsuit also challenges broader enforcement practices, alleging that ICE and CBP agents have routinely stopped people based solely on perceived race or ethnicity, without reasonable suspicion of immigration violations. The plaintiffs argue those practices violate the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable seizures and the equal protection guarantee of the Fifth Amendment.
“ICE and CBP’s practices are both illegal and morally reprehensible,” said Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Minnesota. “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.”
The complaint situates the enforcement surge within the context of public statements by President Donald Trump about Somali immigrants. According to the ACLU, Trump has made repeated remarks disparaging people from Somalia and Latino communities, language the plaintiffs argue has fueled racially targeted enforcement.
The lawsuit references statements in which Trump described people from Somalia as “garbage” and said, “we don’t want them in our country,” comments the plaintiffs say were followed by indiscriminate arrests of Minnesotans perceived to be Somali or Latino.
Kate Huddleston, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, said the actions alleged in the lawsuit strike at the core of constitutional protections.
“The government can’t stop and arrest people based on the color of their skin, or arrest people with no probable cause,” Huddleston said. “These kinds of police-state tactics are contrary to the basic principles of liberty and equality that remain a bedrock of our legal system and our country.”
In addition to Hussen, the lawsuit names two other plaintiffs, including Mahamed Eydarus and a man identified as Javier Doe, both U.S. citizens who allege they were unlawfully detained by federal agents. The complaint details multiple incidents in which individuals were allegedly stopped while working, traveling or performing routine errands, sometimes involving physical force, before being released without charges.
The lawsuit also describes wider impacts on daily life in the Twin Cities, alleging that fear of federal agents has disrupted work, commerce and community activity, particularly in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. According to the plaintiffs, immigrant-owned businesses have seen sharp declines in customers, and residents have curtailed routine activities out of concern they could be stopped or detained.
“The massive presence of ICE agents as part of Operation Metro Surge has disrupted civic life in the Twin Cities,” said Kshithij Shrinath, an attorney with Greene Espel. “Minnesotans are at risk of being stopped by ICE while going to work or shopping for groceries. We will continue to stand with our community and the rule of law.”
The plaintiffs are seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to halt what they describe as three unlawful practices: stops without reasonable suspicion, arrests without warrants or probable cause and arrests based on racial profiling. The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages.
Federal officials have defended the enforcement surge as a necessary response to immigration violations and public safety concerns, though the complaint argues similar tactics have already been found unlawful by federal courts in other states.
The case adds to a growing body of litigation challenging the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy, particularly the use of large-scale operations in interior cities and reliance on warrantless arrests.
As the lawsuit moves forward, it is expected to draw close attention from civil rights groups, state and local officials and communities across Minnesota, where Somali and Latino residents comprise a significant portion of the population. The outcome could shape not only the future of immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities but also broader national debates over constitutional limits on federal policing powers.
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