Marshall man in US on student visa faces possible deportation

Marshall man in U.S. on student visa faces possible deportation

An Indonesian man in the United States on a student visa was arrested at work last month and faces possible deportation, his attorney said.

MARSHALL, Minn. (FOX 9) - An Indonesian man in the United States on a student visa was arrested at work last month and faces possible deportation, his attorney said.

Indonesian man here on student visa arrested at work

The backstory:

Aditya Harsono, 33, of Marshall, Minn., was arrested in March at the hospital where he works, his attorney said. Federal authorities developed a ruse to lure him to the basement, where they put him in handcuffs, she said. Harsono came to the U.S. from Indonesia in 2015 under a student visa to study at Southwest Minnesota State University.

The government revoked that visa in March, days before he was arrested. The government, which argues that Harsono is a public safety threat, based the revocation on a 2022 misdemeanor vandalism conviction, something his attorney said is not a deportable offense. She said the government also mentioned Harsono’s 2021 arrest in a George Floyd protest that was later dismissed. Harsono, who married a U.S. citizen in October 2023, had been in the process of obtaining a green card, which would allow him to live here permanently.

What his attorney is saying:

"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," said Sarah Gad, Harsono’s attorney.

What his wife is saying:

"My whole life and everything that I know is here, but my husband, the man I love, the father of my child isn’t here, and I have to sit here and then weigh which one I’m willing to give up," said Peyton Harsono, his wife. "I'm losing a huge chunk of our income, potentially my apartment. I found out about that, too. It's a definite that I got to figure out what I'm doing."

What the government is saying:

A senior Department of Homeland Security official shared the following statement with FOX 9:

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Aditya Wahyu Harsono of Indonesia March 27 at his place of work. Harsono entered the United States legally on Jan. 7, 2015. Harsono was arrested by Lyon County Sheriff's Office Oct. 18, 2022, for damage to property and convicted on Feb. 7, 2023. US law enforcement determined he poses a public safety threat."