A federal judge in Minnesota has directed immigration authorities to promptly release an Indonesian man detained in late March for allegedly overstaying his student visa, according to reports.
Aditya Harsono, 34, has been incarcerated at Kandiyohi County Jail in Willmar since his arrest by ICE agents at his place of employment in Marshall on March 27, as reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune.
The court declared that Harsono demonstrated he was detained in a manner violating the First Amendment, which entitles him to a writ of habeas corpus for immediate release, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez stated in her ruling on Wednesday.
“The Court finds it is more reasonable to infer that Respondents have detained [Harsono] in retaliation for his speech than because of any professed public safety concern,” Menendez reportedly added.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Harsono’s attorney told Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul that his misdemeanor vandalism conviction is not a deportable offense.
“There seems to be this trend recently where international students who have engaged in some type of activism or expressed, you know, political speech or have expressed, you know, support for Palestine – something along those lines – their student visas get revoked,” Gad said to the station.
Harsono’s lawyers also argued in court that the government targeted him over posts on the Instagram page of his clothing line, which had pictures with messages such as “Free Palestine” and “Black Lives Matter,” according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Gad did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
