Filed Date: April 18, 2025
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This case is one of numerous lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of immigration visas—mostly student or work visas—with no notice to the visa-holders and with dubious or no legal basis. You can see all of the cases here.
The petitioner, Mohammed Hoque, is a 20-year-old Bangladeshi national who entered the United States on an F-1 student visa. In March, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers detained Hoque outside his home based on a visa revocation and termination of his Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record. Petitioner was then put into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in a Minnesota jail. On April 9, 2025, an Immigration Court ordered the petitioner released on a $7,500 bond. DHS appealed the decision and invoked an automatic stay under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(i)(2) citing the petitioner’s misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction in 2023. Hoque argues that this misdemeanor had already been disclosed to U.S. officials and is thus not a recognized grounds for SEVIS termination under 8 C.F.R. § 214.1(d).
On April 18, 2025, the petitioner filed a writ of habeas corpus seeking release on bond. In the writ, the petitioner primarily claimed the DHS violated his First Amendment rights and detained him due to statements he made expressing support with Palestine. He further claimed that the visa revocation and SEVIS termination were pretextual, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and that his continued detention, despite the immigration judge’s bond order, violated his procedural due process rights. The case was originally assigned to Judge Jerry W. Blackwell.
The petitioner moved for a temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing his removal or his transfer out of the district on April 22, 2025. At a status conference, the government contended the Court lacked jurisdiction to prevent his transfer. Nonetheless, Judge Blackwell granted the TRO on April 23, finding that a transfer would undermine the court’s ability to adjudicate the habeas petition. The court also found that Hoque was suffering irreparable harm, including worsening of a hernia condition, infringement of his free speech rights, disruption to his education, financial losses, and the risk of rendering his habeas petition unreviewable if transferred. The following day, DHS withdrew its initial charge of removability and proceeded solely on the basis of visa revocation.
On May 5, 2025, the court granted Hoque interim release pending final adjudication. Judge Blackwell held that there was sufficient evidence to infer that DHS had targeted Hoque in retaliation for his pro-Palestinian views. The government argued that the retaliation claim was barred by the existence of probable cause under Nieves v. Bartlett (holding that a First Amendment retaliatory arrest claim fails as a matter of law where there was probably cause for the arrest).
Judge Blackwell rejected this argument. The Nieves Court held that to successfully make a retaliatory arrest claim a plaintiff must show that, "he was arrested when otherwise similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected speech had not been." In the case at hand, Hoque provided evidence that other international students whose SEVIS records had been terminated were not detained. Therefore, the court concluded it could appropriately consider retaliatory motives. Judge Blackwell also concluded that the automatic stay by DHS, in the absence of individualized justification, was arbitrary. Returning to the irreparable harm the petitioner faced in detention, the court found that it would be in the interest of justice to release the petitioner pending the final adjudication of the habeas petition.
As of June 3rd, 2025, the Court has ordered the temporary restraining order extended three times. This case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Jinan Abufarha (6/9/2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69912590/parties/hoque-v-trump/
Casper, Benjamin (Minnesota)
Chan, Linus (Minnesota)
Dixon, Joseph T (Minnesota)
Dougherty, Rachel (Minnesota)
Mills, Amanda S (Minnesota)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69912590/hoque-v-trump/
Last updated Sept. 23, 2025, 9:39 p.m.
State / Territory: Minnesota
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump 1.0 & 2.0 Immigration Enforcement Order Challenges
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: April 18, 2025
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Mohammed Hoque is 20-year-old Bangladeshi student on an F-1 visa.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Attorney Organizations:
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
United States Government (- United States (national) -), Federal
Saint Paul Field Office (- United States (national) -), Federal
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (- United States (national) -), Federal
Homeland Security Investigations (- United States (national) -), Federal
Department of Homeland Security (- United States (national) -), Federal
Freeborn County Jail (Freeborn), County
Defendant Type(s):
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
Constitutional Clause(s):
Due Process: Procedural Due Process
Special Case Type(s):
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff
Nature of Relief:
Preliminary injunction / Temp. restraining order
Source of Relief:
Content of Injunction:
Release from detention/imprisonment
Issues
Discrimination Basis:
Affected Religion(s):
Immigration/Border: