Indonesian man details surprise ICE arrest in Minnesota hospital; judge denies release

MARSHALL, MINN. – An Indonesian man detained by federal agents at his hospital workplace will remain jailed after an immigration judge ruled Thursday that the case can proceed.

Immigration Judge Sarah Mazzie rejected a motion to terminate the case against Aditya Wahyu Harsono for humanitarian reasons, his lawyer and his wife confirmed.

Harsono, 33, is scheduled for a hearing on May 1 when he will have another chance to state his case.

“We’re going to keep fighting for Aditya until he’s reunited with his family,” his attorney, Sarah Gad of Minneapolis, said after the hearing.

Harsono said in a Wednesday interview that he had no idea he was being apprehended until agents placed him in handcuffs in the basement of the hospital in Marshall, where he worked as a supply chain manager.

“I know I have legit paperwork,” Harsono had said before the ruling.

His wife, Peyton Harsono, said on Thursday that she feared for her family. She had called her husband the night before and said both had felt nervous about the hearing.

Harsono said he was asked to go to the hospital basement on March 27, which is when he saw two men standing in front of packages.

He said he assumed they were mail couriers, but when Harsono approached, the plainclothes agents handcuffed him and declared he was under arrest. He said he could only reply, “Why?”

Harsono spoke from the Kandiyohi County jail, where he’s been held since his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday confirmed his arrest.

“US law enforcement determined he poses a public safety threat,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, noting Harsono’s legal entry into the U.S. in 2015 and his conviction on a property damage charge in 2022.

According to court records, the official reason given for Harsono’s detention was that he overstayed his student visa, which had been revoked four days before his arrest.

A State Department spokesperson said on April 11 that the agency does not comment on specific cases, citing privacy. The spokesperson added that all travelers into the country undergo vetting.

“The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” the spokesperson said.

Immigration lawyers and a medical labor union have sharply criticized the manner of Harsono’s arrest at a hospital.

The Minnesota Nurses Association on Wednesday condemned the arrest, which it said occurred at an Avera hospital.

“The MNA Board of Directors reaffirms their position that nurses should not and will not serve any role in immigration enforcement,” the association said in a statement.

The group said its directors hope all hospital employees reject assisting ICE.

Immigration lawyers argue Harsono’s arrest exemplifies a concerning shift over the last three weeks. His student visa was revoked four days before his arrest, but he wasn’t notified — a “silent revocation.”

David Wilson, a Minneapolis-based attorney, said such actions were typically reserved for clear public safety threats.

“They’re doing it because they don’t want ICE to lose the advantage of surprise,” Wilson said.

He said federal officials appear to have expanded the tactic over the past three weeks to students and visa holders with minor violations.

“We’re in uncharted territory with such an aggressive approach with students and visa holders who are lawfully admitted to the U.S.,” Wilson said.

Jim Stolley, chief counsel of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, declined to comment in a phone call. An ICE spokesman did not return an email for comment.

The soft-spoken Harsono said in a phone call that he had not been told that his F-1 student visa had been revoked before his arrest.

A State Department memo, dated March 23 and submitted in court, shows DHS and ICE requested Harsono’s visa revocation because of the 2022 property damage incident. Harsono originally was charged with a felony, but the charge was downgraded to a misdemeanor in a plea deal, and he served probation.

Harsono was charged after spray-painting graffiti on a bridge support and Schwan’s food delivery trailers in Marshall, where the company was based.

To ICE, the graffiti case meant Harsono “now poses a threat to U.S. public safety,” the government memo read.

Federal officials planned to “immediately pursue removal” for Harsono, and the State Department agreed not to tell him about his visa revocation, the memo read.

“Due to ongoing ICE operational security, this revocation will therefore be silent,” the memo read.

Harsono said he believes his past participation in social justice protests after George Floyd’s killing in 2020 may also have been a factor.

On April 16, 2021, Harsono joined about 1,000 people demonstrating over Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police and the recent death of Daunte Wright by police in Brooklyn Center.

He was arrested for unlawful assembly after the protest, though the charge was dismissed. His wife and attorney said agents and lawyers cited Harsono’s protest history during detention proceedings.

Harsono said he protested because growing up, he had been inspired by the American ideal of freedom of speech.

“I was scared to voice my opinion back in Indonesia,” he said. “Now, you know, I’m in America, I could do that now.”

His attorney said her client has maintained legal status since his arrival and has pending applications that should allow him to stay in the country.

Harsono said he first came to Minnesota in 2015. He was born in Samarinda, Indonesia, but had been studying at a college in Australia at the time. After graduating from Southwest Minnesota State University, he moved to Minneapolis to work at a nonprofit and start a clothing business.

He said that after his arrest at the 2021 protest, which occurred shortly before his student visa expired, he went back to Indonesia. He said he was “surprised” when his application to return to study for a graduate degree was accepted.

Harsono met his future wife in 2022 while studying for his MBA, and they married the next year. They now have an 8-month-old daughter, Adalet, who recently learned how to say “da da” during calls with her jailed father.

“I just wanna kiss my wife on her forehead, and hold my daughter as tight as I can,” Harsono said Wednesday night. “I wanna be there for my daughter.”