MINNEAPOLIS — The American Civil Liberties Union sued a southern Minnesota city on Wednesday, alleging its rental licensing ordinance is unconstitutional and aims to drive black and Somali-American immigrant families out of town.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Faribault residents who were evicted or have been threatened with eviction, says the ordinance violates the Fair Housing Act and the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. It seeks a court order that would declare the ordinance unlawful and bar it from being enforced.

“To quell its discriminatory and misplaced fear of black people, especially Somali immigrants, the city enacted this ordinance aimed at pushing them out of the community,” said Rachel Goodman, staff attorney for the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program.

City administrator Tim Murray said Wednesday he hadn’t yet seen the complaint. But in a June 11 letter to the ACLU, the city said the organization’s claims were unfounded, and that the purpose of the ordinance was to improve safety and living conditions in rental properties.

The ALCU says the ordinance was enacted in 2014 as the city saw an influx of Somali-American residents. Other residents and businesses had raised concerns about increasing crime and loitering, but Police Chief Andy Bohlen said any public safety concerns were unfounded and a product of “fears and cultural clashes.”

After the ordinance was adopted, one official in the predominantly white city of about 23,000 residents said it was successful in getting rid of “undesirable” people, the lawsuit said.

The ordinance requires landlords to be licensed with the city and use leases that allow police to order evictions of entire households if any member engages in criminal activity, even if no arrests have been made, according to the lawsuit. There’s also a three-strikes policy for disorderly conduct complaints.

Landlords are required to conduct criminal background checks on potential tenants, which the ACLU says is discriminatory because black residents are more likely than whites to be arrested. The lawsuit says landlords must deny housing to anyone with a criminal record, though the city, in its June letter, said that isn’t the case.