Filed Date: May 28, 2026
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding in progress
(This summary is temporary while we research the case further). The plaintiff, a Muslim and Arab American labor organizer, community organizer, and human rights advocate residing in St. Paul, filed this action on May 28, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota against officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). In April 2026, the plaintiff traveled to Europe to advocate for European financial institutions to divest from DHS and ICE contractors, during which time she collected approximately 169 items of political literature on topics including labor organizing, opposition to fascism and imperialism, and support for Palestinian human rights. Upon returning to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on April 30, 2026, Corcelius was directed to a secondary screening area following a passport scan, where CBP agents searched her luggage and closely read through all of her political literature, separating it into its own pile. When she called her attorney and handed her phone to the Defendant Assistant Port Director, the Port Director walked away with the phone and did not return it; shortly thereafter, an HSI agent informed the plaintiff that both her phone and luggage were being seized, though her luggage was subsequently returned. As of the filing date, 28 days after the seizure, her iPhone and all political literature had not been returned, and the complaint alleged that a forensic search of her phone was conducted or ongoing outside her presence, with detention receipts listing only "Border Search" as the stated justification. The plaintiff brought claims under the First and Fourth Amendments, alleging that the search and seizure were conducted in retaliation for her protected political advocacy and were motivated by White House directives—including an Executive Order dated September 22, 2025 designating "Antifa" as a domestic terrorist organization, National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) dated September 25, 2025, and the 2026 U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy—that she alleged unlawfully treat left-wing viewpoints as national security threats. She sought declaratory and injunctive relief, including the immediate return of her property, expungement of any data gathered from her phone, revision of CBP's border search policies, and attorneys' fees.
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73408834/parties/corcelius-v-mullin/
Brasel, Nancy Ellen (Minnesota)
Masri, Lena Fatina (Minnesota)
Shaw, Alec (Minnesota)
Hackworthy, David R. (Minnesota)
Sekus, Perry (Minnesota)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73408834/corcelius-v-mullin/
Last updated July 3, 2026, 3:08 a.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: May 28, 2026
Case Ongoing: Yes
Case Details
Other Dockets:
District of Minnesota 0:26-cv-02787
Case Summary of Corcelius v. Mullin, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/48285/.