Minnesota Somali Family Sues Over Border Incident
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Somali-American family that was held at a U.S.-Canada border crossing for nearly 11 hours in 2015 is suing federal officials for allegedly violating their rights.
The lawsuit filed Thursday says Abdisalam Wilwal and his family were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Portal, North Dakota, after his name appeared on the terror watch list.
The suit claims Wilwal, of Minnesota, passed out after hours of being handcuffed. The family was also denied food for hours.
The lawsuit says there's no reason for Wilwal to be on the terror watch list. It seeks an injunction that would require authorities to remove him from the list and bar them from questioning the family.
The lawsuit names the heads of several federal agencies as defendants, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions.