Minnesota residents of Somali descent and Hispanic heritage are suing President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to effectively shut down federal immigration enforcement across the state.
On Thursday, the left-wing American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing Somali immigrant Mubashir Khalif Hussen, Mahamed Eydarus, who is American and of Somali descent, and Javier Doe, a Hispanic American, filed suit against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Director Todd Lyons, among other agency officials.
The lawsuit is asking a federal court to issue a statewide injunction to stop what it calls “unlawful policies and practices” being carried out by ICE agents, including allegations of racial profiling.
“First, federal agents are stopping people to question them about immigration status without reasonable suspicion of removability — and particularly targeting those they perceive to be Somali or Latino,” the lawsuit claims.
It also alleges:
Second, federal agents are arresting people for immigration reasons without warrants and without probable cause to believe that they are removable, outrageously including U.S. citizens (who plainly cannot be detained for civil immigration purposes) and individuals with immigration status.
[Emphasis added]And third, federal agents are making warrantless arrests without probable cause to believe the person is a flight risk. The constitutional guarantees of the Fourth Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, and federal statutory law, prohibit these kinds of police-state tactics. Police cannot simply stop and arrest people based only on their appearance. Federal agents’ policies and practices are antithetical to bedrock legal protections that ensure residents of the United States can go about their daily lives without being snatched off the streets arbitrarily or due to the color of their skin. These policies and practices must be enjoined, as they cannot coexist with the rule of law. [Emphasis added]
In particular, the lawsuit accuses Noem and Lyons of engaging “in a racial profiling campaign of massive scale and with devastating consequences.”
“Agents are … stopping individuals who appear to be Somali or Latino, based on their apparent race and ethnicity — then frequently arresting them in violation of federal law and constitutional protections,” the lawsuit states. “The U.S. Constitution prohibits such a race-based campaign.”
The lawsuit comes as anti-ICE rioters have continued attacking ICE agents in Minneapolis, as well as destroying and vandalizing federal property. Reports suggest that Minnesota police have been ordered to stand down.
The case is Hussen v. Noem, No. 0:26-cv-00324 in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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