The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Jan. 15 filed a class action for Minnesotans who allege that federal agents are violating their constitutional rights during ongoing immigration enforcement operations in the state.

The new lawsuit directed at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) comes amid civil unrest in Minnesota and widespread protests against federal immigration enforcement activities in the state.

In a class action, one or more plaintiffs sue on behalf of a “class,” a larger group of people who claim to have suffered the same injury because of a defendant. Federal and state court rules govern whether a class action gets certified and is allowed to proceed.

The legal complaint in Hussen v. Noem was filed in federal court in Minnesota.

The lawsuit seeks, among other things, to end what it alleges is the federal government’s “practice of stopping Somali and Latino individuals to investigate immigration status” in ways that violate existing law or the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guards against unreasonable government searches and seizures.

“This case seeks to end a startling pattern of abuse spearheaded by the [DHS] that is fundamentally altering civic life in the Twin Cities and the state of Minnesota,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit alleges that masked federal agents numbering in the thousands are using violence in arresting state residents “based on nothing more than their race and perceived ethnicity irrespective of their citizenship or immigration status, or their personal circumstances.”

This law enforcement effort is aimed at “Somali and Latino people, who are being targeted for stops and arrests based on racial profiling motivated by prejudice,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint asks the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to block federal agents from stopping people to inquire about their immigration status without first having a reasonable suspicion that they may be deportable.

It asks the court to prevent cases of immigration-related arrests in which federal agents lack warrants or probable cause indicating that the individuals are deportable.

It also asks the court to prevent federal agents from making warrantless arrests without having probable cause to believe the person concerned is a flight risk.

Catherine Ahlin-Halverson, staff attorney with the ACLU of Minnesota, said in a statement that federal agents’ alleged practices have “spread fear among immigrant communities and neighborhoods.”

“No one, including federal agents, is above the law,” the statement reads.

DHS denies the allegations in the ACLU complaint, calling them “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.”

“What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” a department spokesperson told The Epoch Times.

“Protected under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, DHS law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests. There are no ‘indiscriminate stops’ being made.”

DHS said the ACLU is fighting to protect individuals who are “criminal illegal aliens.”

Earlier in the day, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the federal Insurrection Act in Minnesota after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was physically attacked in the state.

“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,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

That law allows the president to deploy troops to counter an insurrection or armed rebellion. It serves as an exception to the federal Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the use of the military for civilian law enforcement.

Sam Dorman contributed to this report.

This article by Matthew Vadum appeared Jan. 15, 2026, in The Epoch Times. It was updated Jan. 16, 2026.