ACLU-MN Alleges US Citizen Unlawfully Detained

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota is suing the federal government on behalf of a U.S. citizen who alleges he was unlawfully detained.

The organization filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Minnesota on behalf of Ali Abdalla. Abdalla came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee.

When his father became a U.S. citizen, Abdalla - who was a teenager at the time - automatically became one, too.

But Abdalla alleges Immigration and Customs Enforcement unlawfully held him for 11 months - including for five months after a judge ruled he was a citizen while the government appealed.