Latest news with #MinnesotaStateUniversity-Mankato
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge orders release of detained international student who says he was targeted for supporting Palestinian human rights
A federal district court judge in Minnesota ordered the release of a detained international student Monday after finding the Trump administration failed to show it didn't target him for speaking publicly about Palestine. Minnesota State University-Mankato student Mohammed Hoque, a Bangladeshi national who entered the United States on a valid F-1 visa in 2021, was arrested by Department of Homeland Security officers outside his home in March, according to court documents. Officers had followed the student home after class and arrested him – purportedly due to a visa revocation – in front of his parents who were there for a visit, documents show. Hoque was detained until US District Judge Jerry Blackwell ordered his release this week, saying his arrest matched a pattern of activity by the Trump administration targeting non-citizens who engaged in protest activity against the war in Gaza, raising concerns about First Amendment violations. 'The record contains sufficiently clear evidence of viewpoint-based targeting for (Hoque's) exercise of protected speech on a matter of public concern,' the judge wrote in his order, adding that the arrest 'aligns with the publicly stated executive policy of targeting social media users who express support for Palestinian human rights and criticize violence in Gaza, as Petitioner had done.' Blackwell added the Department of Justice failed to present any evidence to justify Hoque's initial arrest and his continued detention. Hoque, a student of management information systems, has argued in court filings he was targeted for his political speech and not any immigration violations or criminal activity. Attorneys told the court Hoque's student visa and Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) record were terminated. CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment on the judge's order. Hoque's case is among a string of recent student visa cancellations and revocations of statuses from SEVIS that have affected thousands of students across the United States amid a larger Trump administration immigration crackdown. In many instances, students and their attorneys said they believed their statuses were revoked because of minor entanglements with law enforcement like traffic violations or underage drinking. In calling for Hoque's visa to be revoked, the State Department cited two previous misdemeanor charges against him – including one misdemeanor assault charge he was never convicted of – and called him a threat to public safety, according to the judge's order, which notes that the memo does not accurately represent that the student was never arrested, and instead completed a stayed sentence in mid-2024. Court records show Hoque was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2023 in Minnesota – which the judge said is a crime that 'does not appear to support removability.' CNN has reached out to Hoque's lawyers for more information on the conviction. Hoque was released on bail Tuesday and has been reunited with his family, according to his attorneys. 'Yesterday, Mohammed Hoque was released on bond,' Teresa Nelson, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union in Minnesota said in a statement. 'While we celebrate that Mr. Hoque has been reunited with his family, we are deeply aware that Mr. Hoque should never have been detained in the first place. We know Mr. Hoque can't recoup the 40 days he spent in custody.' Reasoning for detaining the student kept changing, judge says Shortly after his arrest, attorneys for Hoque filed suit against the Trump administration, and a habeas petition seeking to stop his transfer out of the state. Blackwell initially granted their motion for a temporary restraining order, which kept Hoque in detention in Minnesota. During a bail hearing before an immigration judge last month, Hoque was found not to be a danger to the community despite the government's charges and ordered to be released. That decision was appealed by the government, which kept him in detention, according to the judge's order. In his release order, Blackwell chided the government for changing charges against Hoque, apparently to keep him in custody. The lack of clarity has only supported Hoque's claims that he was targeted for his speech, not any illegal activity, Blackwell wrote. The judge said, 'the Government cited different reasons at different times for its actions,' first citing 'failure to maintain status and foreign policy,' then criminal records. 'The Government also refers to requests and communications without providing the requests or communications themselves,' Blackwell wrote. 'In the face of public evidence of a practice of targeting speech, these omissions are glaring and fail to rebut the evidence that the Government was motivated to arrest and detain Petitioner because he had spoken publicly about Palestine.' Now that Hoque has been released, the lawsuit will move forward along with the immigration proceedings that the Department of Homeland Security has started against him. It's not just visa holders that have been targeted by the Trump administration's crackdown. Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Madawi – pro-Palestinian activists at Columbia University – are now fighting deportation after the State Department ordered revocation of their permanent legal resident status, commonly known as a 'green card,' and arrested them in March and April, respectively. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Detained Mankato student freed from ICE custody after court ruling
The Brief Mohammed Hoque, 20, from Bangladesh, was a Minnesota State University-Mankato student when he was detained by ICE in March. Hoque fought the detainment in a lawsuit, saying he had no criminal record, and that he was arrested out of "retaliation" for his support of "Palestinian human rights." On Tuesday, ACLU-MN officials confirmed that Hoque has been released from ICE custody following a federal court ruling contesting the legality of his detainment. MANKATO, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota State University-Mankato student Mohammed Hoque has been released from the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials following a federal court ruling contesting the legality of his detainment. Mohammed Hoque released by ICE What we know In March, Minnesota State University-Mankato President Edward Inch announced one student had been arrested by ICE, later saying a total of five international students had had their F1 student status terminated by DHS without notice. At the time, Hoque, 20, from Bangladesh, said he had no criminal record, and his attorneys alleged that he was arrested out of "retaliation" for his support of "Palestinian human rights." His attorneys filed a lawsuit on his behalf to fight the detainment, claiming it was a violation of the First Amendment. The lawsuit named President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and St. Paul ICE Field Officer Director Peter Berg, among other officials, as defendants. Court order Dig deeper In a 17-page ruling filed Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell ordered Hoque's immediate release from ICE custody. Hoque's release includes conditions previously imposed by an Immigration Court judge, who found Hoque did not pose a danger to the community, including having to pay a $7,500 bond. In the order, Judge Blackwell writes, "the record contains sufficiently clear evidence of viewpoint-based targeting for Petitioner's [Hoque] exercise of protected speech on a matter of public concern." Blackwell concluded that Hoque's arrest, "aligns with the publicly stated executive policy of targeting social media users who express support for Palestinian human rights and criticize violence in Gaza, as Petitioner [Hoque] had done. In prior court filings, lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security had maintained Hoque was eligible for deportation because of a disorderly conduct conviction that made him a public safety threat. But Blackwell disagreed, writing, "Even accepting the assertion… that Petitioner's [Hoque] visa revocation was premised on his 2023 misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, that crime does not appear to support removability… and standing alone, does not authorize revocation" of Hoque's visa. In a subsequent court filing, Blackwell raised constitutional questions about the actions of DHS and ICE in arresting and detaining Hoque for 40 days. "The record continues to present serious constitutional questions regarding the lawfulness of Petitioner's [Hoque] detention and the potential chilling effect of the Government's enforcement actions on protected expression," Blackwell wrote. What they're saying In a statement to FOX 9, ACLU-MN Legal Director Teresa Nelson says in part, "While we celebrate that Mr. Hoque has been reunited with his family, we are deeply aware that Mr. Hoque should never have been detained in the first place. We know Mr. Hoque can't recoup the 40 days he spent in custody." Nelson confirmed to FOX 9 that Hoque has since been released from custody on bond. Big picture view In recent months, since Trump took office, FOX 9 has covered a number of students who have lost their status at Minnesota colleges. During his campaign, President Trump promised to crackdown on illegal immigration. At the University of Minnesota, FOX 9 has been covering the detainment of graduate student Dogukan Gunaydin, who was facing removal over a drunk driving arrest in 2023. Gunaydin filed a lawsuit to contest his removal. Along with his immigration policy, Trump has also vowed to take on anti-Semitism on college campuses associated with Palestinian protests. The president issued two executive orders in January related to Palestinian protests. Addressing the second order, the president specifically warned international students that the administration would revoke student visas for "all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before." The Source Federal court documents released Tuesday, and previous FOX 9 reporting on Hoque's case.
CBS News
03-04-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
5 Mankato students have had visas revoked, university president says
The president of a southern Minnesota university that saw one of its students detained by federal immigration authorities last week says five other students have had their visas terminated. Minnesota State University-Mankato President Edward Inch told the student government Wednesday night that those students "will need to return to their country of origin at some point between zero and 60 days." The student who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still in custody, Inch said. He was detained at an off-campus residence on Friday. Inch said he's been given little information about the situation and the university is working to aid the affected students. "There are a lot of rumors about why this happened but none that are clear to me," Inch said. "There's nothing that pointed to this person should be taken." Inch reiterated Wednesday that he has reached out to elected officials, including Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, Rep. Brad Finstad and Gov. Tim Walz, in hopes of preventing any further ICE activity on campus. "So that's what I know," Inch told the student government. "I honestly wish there was a better thing I could tell you." MSU-Mankato has more than 1,000 international students from more than 100 countries. ICE has not responded to WCCO's questions about the detained student. The detainment in Mankato happened one day after ICE swept a University of Minnesota-Twin Cities graduate student off the street . Dogukan Gunaydin, a 28-year-old Turkish citizen studying toward his MBA at the Carlson School of Management, is still in custody at the Sherburne County Jail a week later. His lawyer is petitioning for an immediate release, saying Gunaydin's detainment is unconsitutional. The Department of Homeland Security told WCCO Gunaydin was arrested after his visa was revoked because of a DWI in 2023. But Gunaydin's lawyer provided records that show the visa was revoked several hours after the arrest, so she says he was detained while having lawful student status. ICE has not responded to WCCO's questions about Gunaydin's case either.
