A federal judge took the Trump administration’s immigration apparatus to task in an emergency order filed Sunday demanding the release of a detained dentist.
Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a dentist from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, identified in his habeas corpus petition only as “William L.” The arrest was based on “faulty” paperwork provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that claimed the dentist was eligible for immediate removal based on a dismissed charge from 2012, Judge Michael J. Davis of the District of Minnesota found.
Davis bashed USCIS and ICE in his order granting William L.’s habeas corpus petition.
“The hubris of admitting that USCIS made a big mistake, but not even offering any sort of relief is galling, although not surprising,” Davis wrote. “There is no combination of facts or legal argument that can support this position.”
William L. has lived in the U.S. since 2019, when he enrolled at the University of Minnesota’s dental school on an F-1 student visa. He graduated in 2023 and married his college girlfriend. The couple then welcomed their first child in 2025, and the dentist worked in federally designated “shortage areas” before USCIS drew up the order to remove him, according to the order.
William L. was also never arrested or charged with a crime while he was in the U.S., it added.
“Because the facts presented here are so appalling and so well supported, the Court could issue a long order, complete with colorful details about, and commentary on, the abuses suffered by Petitioner,” Davis wrote. “However, because the Court is determined that Petitioner will not spend another night in the Sherburne County Jail, the following order cuts to the legal necessities.”
For instance, Davis noted that USCIS’ admission that the paperwork it used to justify the dentist’s removal was errant meant the arrest had “no lawful predicate.” Under such circumstances, USCIS and ICE bore the burden of proving that the dentist met specific criteria justifying a “warrantless removal,” which Davis found both agencies failed to do.
The order required the dentist to be released by no later than 6:00 p.m. EST on Nov. 1. It also required the agencies to refile a petition to re-detain the dentist at any point in the future.
“No re-detention shall occur before the Court rules on such a motion,” Davis wrote. “Respondents shall bear the burden on any such motion of establishing by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure Petitioner’s appearance and the safety of the community.”
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