Press Releases

If you are a member of the media, please contact Rachel Fergus, Communications Associate at rfergus@aclu-mn.org. Join our press release list by sending your name, media outlet, email address and phone number to rfergus@aclu-mn.org with the subject line “Press Release List.”

Dec 05, 2022

Appeals Court Upholds Verdict Against Anoka County for False Imprisonment

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld a lower-court ruling that Anoka County’s policy of contacting ICE about every foreign-born person the county jailed was a “classic example of national-origin discrimination.”
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights, Criminal Justice
Court Cases: Parada v. Anoka County
Oct 06, 2022

ACLU-MN/Texas Reach Settlement on Behalf of Girls Mistreated by U.S. Government

Two teen sisters who experienced severe abuse and mistreatment while in the custody of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) have received an $80,000 settlement from the federal government for their pain and suffering.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights
Court Cases: Kerlin Sanchez Villalobos et al. v. United States
May 05, 2022

ACLU-MN and Anthony Ostlund Win $200k Settlement Payment and Permanent Injunction in Illegal Detention Class-Action Lawsuit

Blue Earth County Chief Judge Gregory Anderson approved a settlement Tuesday in a case where the Nobles County Sheriff’s policy of holding immigrants in jail for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) was found to be unconstitutional.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights, Police Practices
Oct 11, 2021

ACLU-MN, ACLU-TX Sue on Behalf of Girls Mistreated by U.S. Government

Kerlin Sanchez Villalobos and her younger sister are suing the United States in U.S. District Court in Minnesota after they experienced severe abuse and mistreatment by the immigration system. The ACLU-MN, the ACLU-Texas, and Dorsey & Whitney LLP will represent the plaintiffs.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights
Jan 28, 2021

JURY FINDS ANOKA COUNTY JAIL COMMITTED FALSE IMPRISONMENT 

In the first virtual federal jury trial in Minnesota, a jury Thursday found that Anoka County and its sheriff falsely imprisoned a young woman by slow-walking her booking and following an unwritten and unconstitutional policy of contacting ICE about people born outside the U.S.
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights
Court Cases: Parada v. Anoka County