Trump rebuked as judge bars re-arrest of another student activist

A federal judge has once again handed President Donald Trump a loss in the administration's efforts to deport international student activist Mohammed Hoque.

According to Politico legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein, Judge Jerry Blackwell of the District of Minnesota granted Hoque's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, preventing him from being re-detained.

Hoque, a Bangladeshi national studying at Minnesota State University-Mankato involved in pro-Palestine activism, was arrested earlier this year, allegedly over the revocation of his visa. Authorities reportedly followed him home from class and arrested him in front of his family.

Blackwell ordered his release last month after the federal government failed to prove it didn't have a political reason for locking him up and terminating his Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVIS, status.

In issuing the habeas grant, Blackwell further slammed the Trump administration for targeting Hoque over First Amendment-protected political activity.

"The record separately establishes that Petitioner’s SEVIS termination violates DHS policies. The first is a policy against targeting protected speech," wrote Blackwell. "The second is a policy that visa revocation does not justify SEVIS termination ... Not only does
agency policy preclude the practice, it contravenes federal law."

This follows a number of other cases in which Trump officials, making good on the president's campaign promise, have moved to deport international students who were involved in protests against the Israeli occupation of Gaza. Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University and Rümeysa Öztürk of Tufts University have similarly been locked up for deportation, only for federal judges to blast the administration for violating their rights.