White House threatens Colombia over regulations affecting US auto exports 15 Apr 2025, 11:36 pm

By MANUEL RUEDA

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The White House is urging Colombia to halt the implementation of new auto safety regulations that could jeopardize American car exports to Colombia, as both nations prepare to discuss tariffs recently imposed on Colombian products including coffee, avocados, flowers and oil.

In a letter to Colombia’s Ministry of Commerce, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that plans by Colombia to change certification requirements for cars and auto parts entering the country could lead to the “total cessation” of U.S. automotive exports to Colombia, which were worth almost $700 million last year.

The letter, dated April 11, was leaked to Colombian media outlets Tuesday and a copy was also obtained by The Associated Press. In it Greer warns that if Colombia does not change its plans, it would be conducting an “unfair trading practice that may generate swift enforcement action by the United States.”

Colombian Minister of Commerce Cielo Rusinque refused to comment on the letter, but in a radio interview Tuesday she said the safety regulations would be among several issues that will be up for consideration when representatives of both nations meet to discuss tariffs later this month.

Since 2021, Colombia has been developing new technical requirements for brakes, car windows, tires and seatbelts that are aligned with international safety protocols developed by the United Nations.

Colombia’s government now wants manufacturers who sell cars and car parts to Colombia to get certification from a third party that verifies their products meet these international standards.

The office of the U.S. trade representative argues in its letter that cars manufactured in the United States must already comply with U.S. federal motor safety standards and that Colombia has not provided any proof that these standards are insufficient.

In a report on global trade barriers published earlier this year, the U.S. trade representative’s office said that manufacturers have told the U.S. government that they lack the capacity to obtain third party verification for their auto products.

The dispute over car exports comes just months after Colombia and the United States almost entered a trade war over deportation flights.

In January President Gustavo Petro refused to accept deportation flights from the United States, arguing that Colombian citizens on those flights were being treated in an inhumane manner. In response, Trump threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Colombian exports such as coffee, flowers, avocados and oil.

The dispute was solved in less than 24 hours, with Petro once again accepting deportation flights from the U.S., though most of these are now operated by Colombia’s Air Force.

Colombia was hit with 10% tariffs on its exports to the U.S. earlier this month, when Trump unveiled his new economic emergency measures.

Last week, the Colombian government sent letters to U.S. officials inviting them to start negotiations over the new tariffs, which could seriously hurt the nation’s agricultural exports.

The U.S. is Colombia’s largest trading partner, and purchases about 30% of its annual exports.

Colombia and the U.S. signed a free trade agreement in 2012, that has also boosted Colombian imports of American corn, soy, machinery and chemicals.

In 2024, the U.S. had a 1.3 billion trade surplus with Colombia.

Oak Park Heights state of emergency declared to deal with water main break 15 Apr 2025, 11:16 pm

Officials in Oak Park Heights have declared a state of emergency as crews work to repair a municipal water main break between Lookout Trail and Peacan Avenue.

The break has caused underground water loss and excessive pumping of water from the city’s wells, with water losses appearing to be in excess of tens of thousands of gallons per day, city officials said, leading to the risk of underground erosion and loss of water service to residents if the condition worsens.

The repair, which is expected to cost $175,000, is complicated because the water main traverses between private properties and the topography is challenging, said City Administrator Jacob Rife. The water main is buried more than 20 feet deep in one area, requiring a larger excavation pit than normal, he said.

Making the repair even more complicated is the fact that excavators encountered large pieces of concrete and rebar construction debris – believed to be part of an old, demolished highway project — buried in the area, he said. In addition, there is a private garage directly adjacent to the dig site that complicated the excavation, he said.

Because of the challenges, city officials have decided to use a more-expensive “cured-in-place” polymer pipe liner to ensure the section is properly repaired, he said. Because there are only a few contractors who do that kind of work, city officials needed to declare a state of emergency to allow the city to move forward with a contract that is not subject to normal purchasing and competitive-bidding requirements, according to Rife.

“We want to make sure it gets fixed promptly and also want to make sure we have a solution that will last for the long term,” Rife said.

The current pipe was constructed in 1976, and “it’s had a good run,” he said. “It’s just in a unique location. You don’t expect a water main to be running in the road right of way and running through people’s back yards.”

The repair project is expected to start April 22 and continue until the end of the month, he said.

Gophers’ Motzko tabbed to take on World Juniors, again 15 Apr 2025, 11:11 pm

When the Twin Cities were chosen as host for the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship, St. Paul and Minneapolis checked every box the organizers needed to put on a top-notch show for fans from around the world.

For USA Hockey, one of the boxes checked was an experienced coach on-site who already has a World Juniors gold medal on his resume.

On Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, site of the World Juniors finale in January 2026, Gophers coach Bob Motzko traded in his maroon and gold for familiar shades of red, white and blue as he was announced as the American squad’s head coach. It will be his third turn running the team comprising the nation’s top players under age 20.

“I’m so grateful to USA Hockey to have this opportunity,” Motzko said during a news conference in the Xcel Energy Center lobby. “I’ve been able to coach in this tournament before and … it is truly the greatest tournament, outside of the Olympics, in all of hockey.”

Motzko offered a memory of the 2017 tournament when the U.S. beat Canada in Montreal for the gold medal. The challenge prior to that was trying to stop a talented Russian teenager named Kirill Kaprizov.

In addition to his seven seasons as the Gophers’ head coach, and his 13 seasons running the St. Cloud State program, Motzko was Team USA’s head coach for World Juniors in 2017 and 2018, winning gold and bronze medals, respectively. Retired legendary American goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, general manager of Team USA, joked that he needed to get Motzko in a headlock to convince him to take the job a third time.

“We’ve been on a lot of foreign soil for this tournament in the past few years, and we haven’t hosted,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “We needed somebody with his experience, his leadership, and obviously it was a perfect fit.”

During his time with the Gophers, Motzko has a 161-82-21 record, winning Big Ten titles in four of the past five seasons, and taking Minnesota to the Frozen Four twice.

In addition to being the “home” team for World Juniors, which are being held in the Twin Cities for the first time since 1982, Team USA enters the tournament as the two-time defending gold medalists, with University of Denver coach David Carle leading the Americans to the title in 2024 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and earlier this year in Ottawa, Ontario.

Motzko’s staff is expected to include Gophers assistant coach Steve Miller, who has worked with Team USA in eight of the past nine World Juniors, and has amassed a resume that includes a bronze medal, a silver medal and four gold medals.

The process of picking the 25 or so players who will represent USA Hockey begins in earnest in late July when the World Junior Summer Showcase will be held over the course of a week at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. The tournament will include teams from the USA, Canada, Finland and Sweden playing a series of scrimmages. Schedule and ticket information for those games will be available later this month.

“Outside of pro hockey, it’s probably the most intense tournament and most highly publicized tournament,” said Minnesota Wild coach John Hynes, who coached Team USA at the 2008 World Juniors. “The opportunity to represent your country, to work with the best junior players, and then going against the best junior players around the world in a best-on-best tournament, it’s an awesome experience.”

The 2026 World Juniors will begin in December with a series of pre-tournament games played in Mankato, Bemidji and two other sites yet to be named. The official tournament schedule is not available yet, but ticket packages are on sale at the mnsportsandevents.org website.

The tournament’s round robin round begins on Dec. 26. In total, there will be 29 games played at Xcel and at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis over the course of 10 days featuring teams from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Germany, Czechia, Latvia and Denmark. The gold medal game is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026, in St. Paul.

Texas judge throws out rule that would have capped credit card late fees 15 Apr 2025, 11:10 pm

By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas judge on Tuesday threw out a federal rule that would have capped credit card late fees after officials with President Donald Trump’s administration and a coalition of major banking groups agreed that the rule was illegal.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth came a day after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a collection of major industry groups that had filed a lawsuit last year to stop the rule announced they had come to an agreement to throw out the rule. The groups that sued included the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The banks and other groups had alleged the new rule — proposed last year under the administration of President Joe Biden — violated the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure or CARD Act of 2009, which was enacted to protect consumers from unfair practices by credit card companies. The groups claimed the new rule did not allow credit card issuers “to charge fees that sufficiently account for deterrence or consumer conduct, including with respect to repeat violations.”

“The parties agree that, in the Late Fee Rule, the Bureau violated the CARD Act by failing to allow card issuers to ‘charge penalty fees reasonable and proportional to violations,’” attorneys with the CFPB wrote in a joint motion on Monday with the banking groups to vacate the rule.

The banks have been pushing hard to stop the late fee rule, due to the potential billions of dollars the banks would lose in revenue. The CFPB estimated when it issued the proposal last year that banks brought in roughly $14 billion in credit card late fees a year.

“This is a win for consumers and common sense. If the CFPB’s rule had gone into effect, it would have resulted in more late payments, lower credit scores, higher interest rates and reduced credit access for those who need it most. It would have also penalized the millions of Americans who pay their credit card bills on time and reduced important incentives for consumers to manage their finances,” the banking groups and others said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Even if the lawsuit had gone forward, the banking groups had a good chance of winning as Pittman in a December ruling had said they would have likely prevailed as he found that the new rule violated the CARD Act by not allowing credit card issuers to charge penalty fees that are reasonable and proportional to violations.

The CFPB has been in turmoil since the Trump administration earlier this year began dismantling it, targeting it for mass firings and dropping various enforcement actions against companies like Capital One and Rocket Homes. A federal judge last month issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily stopped the agency’s demise.

The CFPB was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices by a wide range of financial institutions and businesses.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at juanlozano70

Pentagon senior adviser Dan Caldwell ousted during investigation into leaks 15 Apr 2025, 10:59 pm

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been placed on administrative leave and was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday, two defense officials said.

The officials said Caldwell’s sudden downfall was tied to an investigation into unauthorized disclosure of department information. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Caldwell, who served in the Marine Corps, was one of several senior advisers who worked closely with Hegseth. Caldwell’s ties to the secretary go back to Hegseth’s time as the head of Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit that fell into financial difficulty during his time there. Caldwell worked at CVA beginning in 2013 as policy director and later as executive director.

He also was the staff member designated as Hegseth’s point person in the Signal messaging chat that top Trump administration national security officials, including Hegseth, used to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen. The chat, set up by national security adviser Michael Waltz, included a number of top Cabinet members and came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.

The officials did not disclose what leaks are being investigated, but there has been a crackdown across the Pentagon and the Trump administration on the disclosure of sensitive or classified information.

Caldwell’s ouster was first reported by Reuters.

On March 21, Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, said in a memo that the Pentagon was investigating what it said were leaks of national security information. Defense Department personnel could face polygraphs.

The memo referred to “recent unauthorized disclosures” but provided no details. Kasper warned that the investigation would begin immediately and result in a report to Hegseth.

“I expect to be informed immediately if this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure, and that such information will be referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution,” Kasper said in the memo.

Caldwell, who graduated from Arizona State University in 2011, also worked as a public policy adviser at Defense Priorities, a think tank based in Washington.

Xcel Energy Center to lose the name Xcel 15 Apr 2025, 10:58 pm

It’s finally official: In downtown St. Paul, the Xcel Energy Center is losing the name Xcel Energy as the utility’s $3 million-per-year naming rights agreement dries up this summer after a 25-year run.

The energy corporation announced Tuesday it will continue to be involved in the home of the Minnesota Wild through online and in-arena advertising, as well as grants to youth and high school hockey organizations, but the “X” will have to soldier on without Xcel in the title for the first time since its construction in 2000.

Other corporate sponsors

As Wild owner Craig Leipold and city officials continue to pitch what they hope will be a $769 million reinvention of the entire arena, concert and convention center facility, will a corporate sponsor step up to buy naming rights and help usher the multi-purpose arena into the future?

You betcha.

The Twin Cities is home to 17 Fortune 500 companies and others, like Securian, on the border of making the list, a relatively strong showing per capita for a Midwestern metro. That leaves the door open to a number of potential corporate partners interested in making their name synonymous with “The State of Hockey.”

Pioneer Press sports columnist Charley Walters reported last year that Securian and Royal Bank of Canada had done more than just kick the tires on a potential naming rights agreement, “and a handful of other firms are seriously interested.”

Xcel Energy has been the title sponsor for the X under an $80 million agreement, worth about $3 million per year for the past 25 years. The next agreement could, according to Walters, total as much as $10 million per year for the next 25 years.

If the Wild have a corporate ally in mind, they were playing coy on Tuesday, refusing to divulge specifics beyond a written announcement that the team “expects to announce a new arena naming rights partner before the start of the 2025-26 NHL season.”

A spokesman for the Wild, which manages the arena and convention center on behalf of the city, said they would have no further comment.

Xcel to remain long-term partner

While dropping out of the arena title, Xcel Energy will remain involved as a long-term partner, according to a joint announcement from the team and the energy company, which plans to launch an initiative dubbed “Community Power Play” to expand access to the sport for children and families throughout the state.

The program will provide grants to youth and high school hockey organizations, with a focus on financial assistance for young athletes, the purchase of equipment and ice time, and investments in and improvement of community-based rinks and facilities open to all residents.

Bob Frenzel, Xcel Energy chairman, president and chief executive officer, released a written statement on Tuesday noting that “25 years ago, the Minnesota Wild and Xcel Energy were new brands in the region. Today, these two brands have become embedded in our community and our culture.”

“This new chapter with the Wild extends our commitment to the region and will serve to expand access to the sport of hockey so that more young girls and boys across the state can access and more fully engage in this wonderful sport,” he said.

Plans for $769M in improvements

Alongside a new name, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and Leipold, the team owner, hope to reinvent the arena itself, as well as the adjoining RiverCentre Convention Center and Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

The two appeared shoulder to shoulder in committee hearings before House and Senate lawmakers last month, pitching plans for $769 million in improvements.

Those improvements will rely on nearly $400 million in state appropriations bonds, as well as funding from the team, the city, Ramsey County and corporate sponsors.

Among the improvements, Leipold told lawmakers the Xcel renovation will create new types of seating areas more in line with modern demand, including low-cost, lounge-style community viewing rooms.

The mayor has released conceptual renderings and talked up plans of better connecting the arena to Rice Park and the Landmark Center with more public-facing amenities, such as exterior coffee shops. Under the title “Project Wow,” the Wild have attempted to lure the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame from Eveleth, Minn. to downtown St. Paul.

The arena and overall convention center campus, according to the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, together draw nearly 2 million visitors to some 400 annual events. Those visits generate nearly $500 million in economic impact between spending, state and local sales tax, hotel stays and more.

The renovations could boost that spending by another $110 million, according to the chamber.

Millions in merchandise taken by burglars who tunneled through concrete into LA jewelry store 15 Apr 2025, 10:58 pm

By JAIMIE DING

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Burglars tunneled through a concrete wall to gain access to a Los Angeles jewelry store, making off with at least $10 million worth of watches, pendants, gold chains and other merchandise, police said.

The heist happened around 9:30 p.m. Sunday at Love Jewels on Broadway in the heart of downtown’s jewelry district, according to Officer David Cuellar with the LA Police Department.

Investigators were reviewing security camera footage that shows the suspects entering the store from a large hole they drilled from the property next door, he said.

“They tunneled through multiple levels of concrete into the target location,” Cuellar said Tuesday.

An unknown number of suspects fled through the same hole and drove off in a late model Chevy truck, he said. The heist wasn’t discovered until store employees arrived for work Monday morning.

Initial estimates are that $10 million worth of merchandise was stolen, Cuellar said, adding that the number could change. The owner told The Associated Press the loss was around $20 million.

At the store on Tuesday, workers covered up the hole in the wall with a metal plate, repaired other damage and cleaned up overturned display cases and discarded boxes. Two large safes had holes cut in the sides.

Customers and friends stopped by to offer sympathy, with some even asking to purchase items.

Love Jewels’ website advertises items like a 14 karat yellow gold rope chain for $1,200, heart-shaped gold earrings for $200 and a gold cross pendant for $550. Videos on the store’s social media shows glass cases filled with rings, watches and necklaces.

Detectives examined the scene for fingerprints and DNA, police said.

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa no stranger to slow Aprils 15 Apr 2025, 10:55 pm

Carlos Correa is used to starting slow. In most years, the first month of the season will be his worst at the plate. That might give him some peace of mind, but it doesn’t make what he’s going through now any easier.

“It gets magnified when it’s April and you look at the scoreboard and you see the numbers. People freak out often,” Correa said. “But, I’ve had a lot of bad Aprils and I end up the season the right way. I know what it takes. You’ve got to be strong-minded.”

After an 0 for 4 day on Monday, Correa entered Tuesday’s game against the New York Mets hitting .153 with a .456 OPS. Heading into Tuesday, he was still searching for his first home run and had driven in just three.

The Twins’ shortstop didn’t collect his first hit until the team’s sixth game of the season, starting the year 0 for 18. He was recently dropped in the lineup, hitting fifth on Tuesday after spending the earliest part of the season in the 2 hole.

“I don’t feel bad at the plate. I don’t feel like I’m getting overpowered too much,” Correa said. “I’m just getting no results, and this game is all about that. The practice has been good. The eyes, I feel like I’m seeing the ball well. I’m just not getting the results I want. I’m not barreling the ball like I want.”

Historically, Correa has slashed .262/.337/.425 in March/April. All those numbers typically improve as Correa, an all-star for the third time last season, gets into the heart of his season.

“You’ve got to put in a lot of work to figure it out because this game is tough,” Correa said. “This game gets tougher when you’re struggling. You’ve got to go out there with a positive mind and the right attitude.”

Pitchers get extra work

In the early hours before Tuesday’s game, Twins pitchers were out on the mound, getting in some fielding practice. This wasn’t, manager Rocco Baldelli said, a reaction to the rash of errors Twins pitchers have made in the early going of the season, but rather something that was already scheduled.

“It was on the calendar for about a week,” Baldelli said. “Doesn’t look like it was pre-planned, but it was.”

The extra PFPs came a day after Twins pitchers committed two errors throwing the ball to first base. In their first 17 games of the season, the collective group has made six errors.

“I think we just focus a little more, more reps. I’m sure we’ll be out there working on it in the next day or two,” reliever Justin Topa, who made an error in the series opener, said on Monday. “Just try not to rush it, just make a good throw. We’ve done it a thousand times.”

Briefly

The Twins announced an attendance of 10,240 fans on Monday night at Target Field. That number is the lowest in the history of the ballpark outside of the 2020 and 2021 seasons when attendance was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. … Injured reliever Brock Stewart began a rehab assignment with Class A Fort Myers on Tuesday. … Jose Miranda, demoted to Triple-A on Sunday, was placed on the seven-day injured list with a left hand strain. … The Twins signed veteran pitcher Tyler Beede to a minor league deal and assigned him to St. Paul. Beede, who debuted in 2018, pitched in 13 games last year for the Cleveland Guardians, giving up 13 earned runs in 14 innings pitched. … New Jersey native David Festa will start on Wednesday against the Mets. Festa gave up one run (which was unearned) in 4⅔ innings in his first major league start of the season last time out.

Man who says he was held captive in Connecticut home for 20 years makes his first public comments 15 Apr 2025, 10:46 pm

By DAVE COLLINS

A man who told police that he was held captive in a Connecticut home by his father and stepmother and given limited food for 20 years before being rescued is thanking medical staff for holding what he called his first-ever birthday party as he turned 32.

In his first public comments on Tuesday, he also said he wants people to be held responsible for what happened to him. And he plans to change his name as he begins to take charge of his life and recovers both physically and mentally.

A nonprofit group, Survivors Say, released a statement by the man, who was pulled by firefighters on Feb. 17 from a burning Waterbury home that police say he set on fire in a desperate attempt to win his freedom. Survivors Say says it offers support and resources to survivors, victims and families after tragedies.

“Please call me ‘S,’ ” the statement begins. “This is not the name given to me by my parents when I was born. I am choosing a new name for myself, and I will use that name as I reclaim control over my life and my future. My name is my choice, and it is the first of many choices I will make for myself now that I am free.”

The man spent time in a hospital and was later moved to another care center after being rescued from the home, where he said he was kept locked in a small room most of every day and not given enough food since he was 11. He weighed only about 69 pounds (31 kilograms) when he was brought to the hospital, where doctors told police the man was extremely malnourished and had other health and development problems.

His stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, has been charged with kidnapping, felony assault, cruelty to persons and other crimes. She and her lawyer have denied that she kept the man locked up, and she has pleaded not guilty. Sullivan told police that the man was free to move about the house as he pleased, according to an arrest warrant. The man’s father died last year.

“I am a survivor of more than 20 years of captivity and domestic abuse,” the man said in the statement. “I was held prisoner in my home from the time I was taken out of the fourth grade at age 11 until two months ago at age 31 when I purposely set the fire that helped set me free.”

“I am speaking out today to begin the process of reclaiming my life and to have my say in how my story is told,” he said.

A spokesperson for Survivors Say, David Guarino, said it provides support to survivors and victims at no charge. He declined further comment and referred to the man’s statement.

The man told his story to police after his rescue. He said he was locked in the small room with no heat or air conditioning for most of every day, allowed out only briefly to do chores, and was hungry all the time. He received no medical or dental care, and many of his teeth were decayed, police said.

He was unenrolled from Waterbury’s public school system in 2004, after his father and stepmother complained that school officials were reporting concerns about his well-being to the state Department of Children and Families.

Police visited the home twice at the time and reported no concerns. The Department of Children and Families also visited the home, but the man said Sullivan told him to say everything was fine, according to the arrest warrant. He also said Sullivan threatened him with even less food if he ever told anyone about what was going on in the house.

State and local authorities have been looking into how this could have happened, and some are calling for stricter oversight of homeschooling and a review of the agency’s actions.

The man said he is feeling much better and stronger. He thanked a variety of people, from first responders to medical care professionals to people and groups helping him recover. He said medical staff organized his first-ever birthday party recently.

He further thanked Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury, which helps victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. The group has been raising money for his care, collecting just under $270,000 on a GoFundMe page. The money that will go toward his medical and dental care, counseling and therapy, living expenses and expected legal fees, the group said.

“I ask everyone involved in my story to fully cooperate with the authorities who are helping me seek justice for these crimes,” he said. “I also ask the public and the media to respect those investigations and my privacy as this process plays out. This isn’t just a story. It’s my life.”

He also thanked the public for their thoughts, messages, support and prayers.

Marshall man claims that ICE detained him for protests over police killings 15 Apr 2025, 10:38 pm

When 33-year-old Aditya Harsono went to work as usual in late March, he didn’t know that he would be getting arrested by federal authorities.

“They just put handcuffs on me, saying that ‘You’re under arrest,’ ” the Marshall man told MPR News over the phone from the Kandiyohi County jail. “I was like, ‘OK, but can you tell me why?’ They say, ‘Yeah, your visa got revoked.’ ”

Through the confusion, Harsono started piecing together what happened. On March 23, his F-1 student visa was revoked. Then, the “respondent was taken into ICE custody while at work, allegedly for overstaying his student visa following its revocation on March 23, 2025,” the immigration court documents state.

Now, Harsono is facing potential deportation despite having a valid F-1 visa that wasn’t expiring until June 2026. He also had pending applications for permanent residency based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen. He’s still in custody at the Kandiyohi County jail.

“It’s hard because the fact that people, including me, complying with everything to be legal in the United States, we pay taxes and all that stuff, following the paperwork renewing process and for some reason, they still have the power to do whatever they think that these people jeopardize or harm community,” he said. “I think that’s really unfair. I just want to be back with my family.”

Attorney Sarah Gad, who represents Harsono, received a phone call from Harsono’s wife, Peyton, who she said was “hysterical.”

“She had just gotten a phone call from human resources at the hospital where Aditya worked, saying ICE showed up and took him into custody,” Gad said. “She didn’t know why. None of us knew why. We couldn’t even fathom. ‘Was this a mistake?’ There’s nothing in his record that would make him removable or inadmissible.”

Harsono has a misdemeanor conviction for criminal damage to property in 2022. But it’s for another reason that he believes he was detained by ICE — Harsono was arrested for unlawful assembly at a 2021 protest for the killing of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center on April 11, 2021. The charge against Harsono was later dismissed.

An immigration judge granted Harsono a $5,000 bond in his current case, but ICE appealed, leading to a stay. Gad said she believes her client’s detainment may be politically motivated. She noted the dismissed protest charge was cited in the memo to oppose bond.

“I am satisfied that the evidentiary record supports the contentions justifying the continued detention of the noncitizen,” Jim Stolley, chief counsel of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a bond notice appeal.

“The legal arguments are warranted by existing law or by a non-frivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing precedent or the establishment of new precedent.”

Gad worries about the growing pattern of arresting international students and revoking their visa statuses based on their participation in campus protests. In Harsono’s case, Gad said the federal government’s prioritization of political protests over misdemeanor convictions sends a specific message.

“In all honesty, I think that they put that first to frame him in a way that suggests that he’s a threat to the current administration’s national security interests,” she said.

‘Eventually, it will be over’

Harsono came to the United States from Indonesia in 2015 as an undergraduate student at Southwest Minnesota State University, where he eventually graduated with his bachelor of science in environmental science and ended up working in Minneapolis. Though he still wanted to pursue a master’s degree, he returned to Indonesia in 2021 after the charges against him relating to his protest participation were dropped.

“After that arrest, I left for Indonesia, and said, ‘Let’s see if I can actually get it, obtain my visa again,’ ” he said.

To Harsono’s surprise, he was able to obtain a visa again a few months later in 2021 and was allowed back in the U.S. He graduated with his master’s degree in 2023. While studying in the program, he met Peyton, and the two married. They have an infant daughter, Adalet.

Last June, the couple filed for a petition to sponsor Harsono as an immediate relative to receive a green card through marriage. Gad said her firm was contacted again in December 2023 by the Harsonos to obtain a work permit because Aditya Harsono’s would expire by the end of January.

“We opted to just file the I-485 application to adjust his status to a lawful permanent resident so that he could get his work permit based on that application,” Gad said. “So, just by virtue of being married to the U.S. citizen, having been lawfully admitted and having these pending applications, that automatically puts him in a period of authorized stay.”

Harsono’s loved ones are fighting for his release. Peyton Harsono wrote to ICE, pleading with the agency to consider the impacts of her husband’s detainment.

“My husband is not a threat to society — he is a devoted father, a hardworking man, and the foundation of our family,” she said in a letter filed with court documents. “His continued detainment is unjust and serves no benefit other than to tear apart a loving and law-abiding family. We need him home. There’s been so much unrepairable damage and emotional trauma. Please, I beg you! Give me my husband, my daughter’s father back. We need him home.”

Gad also said they planned to ask Gov. Tim Walz to pardon Harsono, but it’s unclear whether Walz has the authority to pardon those who are in custody of federal immigration authorities.

Throughout his detainment, Aditya Harsono said he remembered being shackled and handcuffed. He was interrogated by ICE agents and transported in cramped vans. He saw other international students who were detained and, for a brief moment, found some comfort amid fear.

“I wasn’t the only one, I wasn’t alone,” he said. “We kind of prayed for each other. To keep us stronger. Because, none of us knew, and none of us deserved this.”

“They still wanna put me in jail for cases (that are) already closed, and it’s not fair,” he added. “It’s like buying a ticket to the cinema, and you sit down to have popcorn, to watch the movie, and someone comes up to me, ‘Hey, your tickets are invalid, and you gotta leave the theater right now.’ It’s very corrupt and unfair.”

The only thing Aditya wants is to go home — back to his family.

“Just stay strong, Dada will be home,” he said. “Everything happens for a reason. Somehow, we’re going to be stronger than ever. This is all a test. Stay positive. I’m trying to keep my head up all the time, and I want all of them to do the same. Eventually, it will be over.”