We the People: Immigration Law and Constitutional Rights

At the January 30 protest in Minneapolis, a large facsimile preamble to the U.S. Constitution was carried with messages from Minnesotans. Photo by Sarah Whiting

What is “legal” and “illegal” immigration? Is it legal to blow whistles and yell at ICE agents for often violently taking people who have committed no crime? What Minnesota lawsuits are pending against the federal government? What kind of access should immigration attorneys have to clients who have been detained? 

We asked the team at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), which has worked with immigrants for decades, to walk through some of the questions people tend not to understand about immigration. We also received other details from immigration attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to clarify what the law says about immigration and constitutional rights.

Q&A About Immigration

Most of the SMRLS clients around Minnesota are refugees seeking Lawful Permanent Resident status and permanent residents who are applying for citizenship. They also help survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking apply for immigration status in the U.S. SMRLS does not represent people who have been detained by ICE, because of restrictions in federal funding, but does host Know-Your-Rights legal clinics to advise the community about legal rights, available legal remedies, how to be prepared for a possible detention, and what steps to take if they are detained.

What do U.S. laws say about the pathway to citizenship?

One misconception is that anyone can apply for citizenship. In order to become a naturalized citizen, a person must first have Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status, also referred to as having a “green card.” There are limited pathways to LPR status, including through close family relationships, humanitarian relief — such as refugee or asylum status, trafficking victim status, employer petitions, and the diversity lottery.

Once someone has secured LPR status, they have to wait three to five years before they are eligible to apply for citizenship. They must also meet residence and Good Moral Character standards. The citizenship process involves an application, an interview, and a civics test. It is a lengthy process.

How are those laws being changed today?

It has become increasingly difficult for applicants to apply for immigration benefits due to several Executive Orders related to immigration and policy changes within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice. On January 9, Operation Parris was launched that gives the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency authority to arrest and detain refugees living in Minnesota without a warrant. As with many Executive Orders and sudden policy changes, Operation Parris faced legal challenges. On January 28, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, halting Operation Parris and ordering the immediate release of refugees detained under this policy.

In previous administrations, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) jurisdiction did not extend more than 100 miles from an international border. In recent months, it has become common for CBP officers to conduct immigration enforcement actions alongside ICE officers in Minnesota.

In prior administrations, most people who were undocumented but did not have criminal convictions were not detained for long periods of time. If they had a pending application for relief, they could wait for a decision in their case without being detained. Over the past year, this has changed; people who have valid employment authorization and no criminal records are being detained and processed for removal. We have also heard disturbing reports that people in detention are not given the opportunity to call their lawyer or otherwise receive legal advice.

In past years, how have deportations been handled, and what needed to be fixed in the immigration process?

Deportation, now known as “removal,” has always been a component of immigration law. People without a valid immigration status may be removed from the United States. People can also lose their immigration status if they are convicted of certain crimes or otherwise violate the conditions of their immigration status.

The United States has not had a significant immigration law overhaul in more than 40 years. Over time, new laws have been passed that created immigration relief, but many visa categories are numerically limited and do not address many of the workforce needs of the U.S. or adequately address the humanitarian needs of people who are migrating. In 2025, Congress raised the annual budget of the Department of Homeland Security to $178 billion, but most of the funding was earmarked for immigration enforcement agencies and did not increase funding for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or the immigration court system, both of which face serious capacity and backlog concerns.

Prior to this administration, additional funding to reduce processing times within USCIS would have been beneficial. Congress has also had many opportunities to create long-term relief for people with temporary relief, such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as a long-term pathway for Afghans brought to the United States after the fall of Afghanistan in 2021.

Defining Legal Immigration

Immigration is a spectrum, without a linear process — which is why advocates have been asking for reform for decades. Court backlogs mean that people seeking legal status can easily wait more than a decade. Some are legally able to get a driver’s license and receive health insurance; others cannot.

In past years, some people seeking legal status go to immigration court and make a case against being deported. Some people are in the U.S. with a work or school visa, and seek to extend it. Many of them came here on a temporary visa and stayed for work or a relationship. Some have relatives here, which can sometimes lead to petitions for legal status.

Asylum seekers come to the U.S. and apply for protection from trauma (war, sexual assault, torture), which is a lengthy process. A T visa, for example, is for survivors of human trafficking. Under the Trump administration, all asylum seekers have been denied the option to request legal status.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) also offer impermanent protection from deportation, but do not guarantee a path to a permanent status. Those protections were voided in May 2025 for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela; status also is being changed for people from Somali and other African and Latine countries.

People without a green card cannot apply for a work permit or receive a social security number. During the Biden Administration, these children had protection from deportation due to a Deferred Action status, allowing them to work lawfully and attend college. The Trump administration ended this option in June 2025, which means previously protected children are no longer safe from deportation.Because temporary protections are being stripped away, this is increasing the number of people who are subject to abrupt deportation.

The Trump administration is also working to end birthright citizenship — that anyone born in the United States is considered a U.S. citizen. Travel bans from certain (mostly Black and brown) countries are being enacted. Student visas are being revoked. Green card holders are being punished for using freedom of speech. Deportation processes have been sped up without judicial oversight from immigration court.

Constitutional Lawsuits in Minnesota

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has several active lawsuits related to constitutional rights being denied in Minnesota. The organization reported receiving 500 reports of constitutional violations in a six-week period after Operation Metro Surge began in the Twin Cities. One judge in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota reported 96 violations of state orders involving 74 cases simply during January. ACLU has other concerns in Greater Minnesota, where 287g agreements are being made between local sheriff departments and federal agents to hold people who have been detained, even if bail has been paid for release. Since local taxpayers pay for this detention, ACLU is stepping in with lawsuits to reject that local resources can be used for federal actions.

Violations of Constitutional Amendments

• First Amendment (speech, religion, press, assembly, association): Documenting law enforcement is constitutionally protected, but has been met with harassment, violence, and detention. Journalists have been threatened and arrested for covering ICE activity.
• Fourth Amendment (unreasonable search and seizure): It is unlawful to stop someone based solely on racial ethnic appearance. In some cases, agents have broken into the wrong homes, or detained the wrong person.
• Fifth Amendment (due process, equal protection): Government actions based on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion violate due process. Some violations in Minnesota have included detaining refugees without a warrant, separating a nursing mother from her infant, handcuffing a man with severe head injuries to his hospital bed, detained a pregnant mother and her family despite a pending asylum case.
• Sixth Amendment (right to counsel): Federal government has routinely denied attorneys access to clients, claiming the Whipple building cannot accommodate visits. Detainees often have been transferred out of state without even one call, and have been pressured to sign “self-deport” forms without counsel. People arrested in Minnesota are often sent out of state (such as to Texas and New Mexico) within hours, even if they have pending cases or local attorneys. The online locator database is not updated in real time, making it difficult to locate detainees.
• Tenth Amendment (state sovereignty): Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul have sued the federal government, alleging violations of state and local sovereignty.

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