The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration Thursday, seeking a court order to halt what it says are unconstitutional immigration enforcement tactics by federal agents in Minnesota, as stepped-up Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Twin Cities have drawn heightened scrutiny and public backlash.
The class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other federal officials and asks a judge to block what the plaintiffs describe as unlawful stops and arrests that they say have swept up U.S. citizens and legal residents.
The ACLU is representing Somali immigrants Mubashir Khalif Hussen, Mahamed Eydarus, and Javier Doe, a Hispanic American.
The suit seeks a statewide injunction against what it calls "unlawful policies and practices," including allegations of racial profiling.
The filing also alleges federal agents are arresting people for immigration reasons without warrants or probable cause, including U.S. citizens and those with valid status.
It also claims that arrests are being made without evidence of flight risk.
Such actions, plaintiffs' claim, violate the Fourth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and federal law, as police may not detain individuals solely on the basis of appearance.
The ACLU said the case challenges "suspicionless stops," "warrantless arrests," and "racial profiling" tied to an expanded federal deployment in Minnesota.
Under 8 U.S.C. Section 1357(a)(2), an immigration officer may make a warrantless immigration arrest only if the officer has reason to believe the person is in the United States in violation of immigration law and the person "is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained for his arrest."
The Associated Press reported federal immigration agents have used chemical irritants, pointed rifles at demonstrators, and forced people from vehicles during protest confrontations.
The government has argued such actions are needed to protect officers from violent attacks.
Tensions escalated after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, 37, by an immigration agent last week, an incident federal officials have championed as self-defense.
On Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said a federal officer shot a man in the leg after an encounter that DHS described as an attack on an officer during an attempted arrest.
Separately, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued DHS on Jan. 12 alongside Minneapolis and St. Paul, seeking to halt Operation Metro Surge, calling it unconstitutional and unlawful.
The lawsuits came as Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesota leaders do not stop what he called "professional agitators and insurrectionists" targeting ICE personnel.
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State," he wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Trump has already sent a large contingent of federal law enforcement officers to Minnesota, with nearly 3,000 deployed.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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