Somali, Latino Minnesotans testify over unconstitutional stops by ICE agents

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CN) — During an extensive hearing on Tuesday, Somali and Latino Minnesotans told a federal court that federal immigration agents have racially profiled and harassed them during warrantless and unlawful stops in the Minneapolis area.

Six individuals — all U.S. citizens and plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the government — described separate but similar encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, including unmarked vehicles, masked agents who refused to identify themselves and aggressive questioning focused on place of birth and use of foreign languages.

The Justice Department maintains that these are “intelligence-led” stops based on reasonable suspicion that the individuals are likely to be in the country illegally — adding that, in multiple instances, named plaintiffs fled law enforcement for no reason.

The most pressing testimony came from 20-year-old Mubashir Hussen, the lead plaintiff in the case. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota presented video evidence from December 2025 showing an unmarked SUV pulling up near Hussen before masked agents jumped out and chased him. Hussen said he was slammed against metal bars and restrained, all while the agents refused to identify themselves or share the reason for the stop.

Hussen, who was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2019, said he told the agents he was a legal resident and that he had identification to prove it. The agents, he said, did not care and took him to the Bishop Henry Whipple federal building, where he was held for over an hour.

“I was feeling really scared, I didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “I was in a secluded area with nobody around.”

Justice Department attorney Sean Skedzielewski launched a rigorous cross-examination, hammering Hussen over perceived inconsistencies between his initial written declaration and his vocal testimony. Skedzielewski pointed out that Hussen initially said he didn’t run from officers, before going back on that claim months after the stop, among other contradictions.

As the atmosphere in the courtroom grew increasingly tense with Hussen’s visible discomfort, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud eventually intervened.

“I think you’ve made your point,” the Donald Trump appointee said, signaling for the Justice Department to move on.

Tuesday’s hearing stems from a class action filed by the ACLU of Minnesota in January, claiming racial profiling and warrantless arrests of Somali and Latino Minnesotans by ICE agents. The ACLU, in its complaint, argued that Homeland Security agents have violated Minnesotans’ constitutional rights by conducting arrests and detainments, with no probable cause, based solely on ethnicity.

The federal government has maintained that these stops were based on reasonable suspicion rather than race.

Skedzielewski utilized a consistent strategy for each witness, stating that, because agents never explicitly stated they were stopping the plaintiffs because of their ethnicity, any claim of racial profiling was mere speculation.

“Since the officers didn’t tell you, and you can’t read minds, you’re only speculating on why they stopped you, correct?” he asked each witness, who all eventually said yes or “I don’t know.”

The ACLU and several witnesses pushed back, arguing, through questioning, that the lack of any probable cause and the frequent references to witnesses’ accents or language left their ethnicity as the only logical conclusion for a stop.

Ramon Menera Romero, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2012, said agents ignored his attempt to show documentation, choosing instead to pester him about why he wasn’t speaking English.

“I have no rights, I feel so hopeless,” he said.

The government also attempted to suggest the witnesses’ perceptions had been skewed by social media posts about ICE targeting minority groups. Skedzielewski questioned several witnesses about their social media habits, implying their trauma could be a byproduct of online narratives rather than real conduct.

Beyond the legality of the stops, the ACLU used a significant portion of its time to lay out the psychological toll of the encounters. Witnesses described a profound shift in their daily lives, testifying that they now limit their movements to essential trips — going to work or the occasional grocery store run — out of fear of being targeted again.

“I’ve made it strictly going to and from work, anything else, I just stopped doing,” 25-year-old Somali American Mahamed Rufai Eydarus — who was surrounded by ICE agents while shoveling snow — said. “There hasn’t been a day since this incident that I haven’t heard a story about someone on the street being taken.”

Skedzielewski pointed out, through questioning, that each witness has had no encounter with ICE since the initial stops outlined in their declarations — suggesting ICE left them alone once verifying citizenship status.

Still, the ACLU focused mostly on the agents failing to identify themselves or respond to witnesses’ pleas to show documentation in the initial stops as reason alone to prove a constitutional violation.

The hearing comes days after the Trump administration announced an end to Operation Metro Surge, which could impact the extent to which any injunctive relief is awarded.

Tostrud remained largely reserved during the hearing and will hold a preliminary injunction hearing on the same case Wednesday.