Law professor: Process of detaining international students in Minnesota is unusual

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: It's our top story this afternoon on Minnesota Now. The detainment of two students at universities in Minnesota sparking fear and confusion about immigration enforcement against international students. Last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested a Turkish MBA student at the University of Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security says Dogukan Gunaydin had his student visa revoked due to a 2023 DWI.

An international student at MSU Mankato was also detained last week, though there have been little details about the circumstances so far there. Joining me now to provide some more context to these international student detainments is Ana Pottratz Acosta. She's a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, specializing in immigration law. Ana, thank you so much for being here.

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Yes, of course. Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: I think one of the difficult things for a lot of people to process is what is actually going on and what it means for other people in similar situations, and other people who may not be in the exact same situation on the exact same visa. There are so many different types of legal statuses for people who come to this country. Would you tell us a little bit, for starters, about the status in particular of these international students?

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Sure. So a majority of students who are present in the United States studying at a college or university, most of them are present with something called an F-1 student visa. And I think an important thing to understand as well is that there are two parts to the process. So before you come to the United States, you apply for your F-1 student visa at the consulate.

And once that is approved, then you're able to travel and enter the United States, where you are granted F-1 status. And it's granted for something called duration of status. So as long as you're maintaining the terms of your student visa, so enrolled in an educational program full-time, paying your tuition, for all intents and purposes, abiding by the law and abiding by the terms of your visa, you can hold that status as long as you're enrolled in school.

NINA MOINI: And what does it mean to be detained? What would prompt an international student to be detained? We've heard the word so much that I just want to give us an opportunity to talk about what it means.

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Sure. So one thing that I think I want to stress is that it is highly unusual to be detained for some of the reasons that we've heard about for some of the international students. So first, some of the detentions that have happened around the country related to political speech or writing an op-ed, various activities that are generally protected by the First Amendment.

And then also, in this case with the MBA student at the University of Minnesota, a detention after conviction for a DUI, which is, under immigration law, considered a lower level offense that typically wouldn't result in revocation of status or detention for someone who holds lawful status inside of the United States. And as far as what detention is, I think it's important to understand that it's like being held in jail. So if you're held in custody after arrest, before you're able to post bail or bond, it's a very similar experience if you're held in immigration detention.

NINA MOINI: And in the case of that University of Minnesota student, we do know through a federal lawsuit that their attorney filed that as of today-- we checked as well-- it looks like they're still in Sherburne County Jail, which contracts with ICE to hold people. What do you think about just the situation, just because we know more about it, of the DWI student in particular? The ways that he was approached, not knowing what was going on, according to his attorney, spending hours in jail with no access to anybody, the issues around just due process that are occurring, what are your thoughts around that?

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Yes. So with some of the situations that we've been hearing about more recently, and specific to the case of the MBA student at the University of Minnesota, the thing that's very unusual is lack of notice and lack of procedural due process around revocation of the F-1 status that he held that allowed him to attend the University of Minnesota for his MBA program.

Typically, there's a lot more communication. If your status is going to be revoked, you would either be notified by an official at your school, known as a designated student officer, a DSO. The DSO is the official at your school that would communicate with the Department of Homeland Security and verify that students at the school are maintaining their F-1 student visa status. There would be an opportunity to contest any charges before your visa is revoked.

And usually, you have the opportunity to negotiate with the Department of Homeland Security to possibly get your status reinstated, or if it can't be reinstated, to allow you to depart the United States without being detained. What's very unusual here is that a lot of the process that's happening where the visa status or the F-1 status is being revoked in Homeland Security's system, it's happening in the dark. So people aren't getting notice of their status being revoked, and then also not getting a lot of information to contest charges when the government is trying to remove them from the country.

NINA MOINI: Another unusual part of this is the proximity to educational institutions, correct? We learned that the U of M student in particular was coming out of their residence, going on their way to class, pretty close to campus, but off-campus. What are your thoughts around just being so close to these educational institutions?

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Well, it seems like it may be connected to the fact that Homeland Security and ICE have changed their policy recently around conducting enforcement actions at sensitive locations. So another thing that's happening at the same time is that ICE has changed its policy, where previously they wouldn't conduct enforcement actions at or near educational institutions. So K-12 schools or colleges and universities, health care facilities, outpatient clinics or hospitals, as well as places of worship.

Since they've revoked that policy, we've seen a lot more actions happening at institutions of higher education, maybe some enforcement actions where parents have dropped off their kids at school and then get pulled over by ICE as they're leaving, near the school. And it seems like some of these actions that are being taken against international students may be intersecting with rescission of the sensitive location memo.

And I think another thing that's curious, too, is that it appears as though a lot of the students that are being impacted, at least right now, appear to be from Muslim-majority countries, or that there might be more scrutiny against international students from certain parts of the world. Without speculating too much or knowing about how it's impacting other students or the nationality of the students in question, but what we've seen so far, it's curious when you look at the part of the world that a lot of these students are from originally.

NINA MOINI: And the administration, the Trump administration, has said they've revoked around 300 of these student visas so far, and that they are going over things, really, with a fine tooth comb. What are you going to be looking for as we continue on throughout the rest of this year or the rest of the administration? Is the new normal? Do you think we're going to start to see a lot more of these cases? And then, what recourse do these international students have?

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Yes. So it's really hard to say what the new normal will be just because the situation is changing so rapidly in real time. Another thing that we're seeing or hearing from both the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security is that there appears to be a lot more monitoring of social media posts by international students.

And part of the process in terms of choosing those 300 students that have had their F-1 student visa status revoked, or their visa that allows them to come in and out of the country, it appears as though there's a lot more scrutiny being applied to international students. So what I would suggest for anyone who's an international student, it's probably a good idea to check in with the DSO at your university.

And then also, be very careful if you have any international travel plan. Because in terms of rights or recourse, you have a lot more rights when you have already been admitted and you're present in the United States pursuant to a lawful grant of F-1 status. If you're outside of the country and returning after traveling or you're applying for a visa outside of the United States, it's much easier to refuse your admission or to deny your visa when you're out of the country, versus the rights that you have when you're inside of the country.

NINA MOINI: Professor, thank you so much for stopping by and helping break all of this down for us. We really appreciate your time.

ANA POTTRATZ ACOSTA: Of course. Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: That was Ana Pottratz Acosta, Professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, specializing in immigration law.