Lawsuit: U of M grad student detained by ICE ‘feared he was being kidnapped’
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A man from Turkey who’s studying business at the University of Minnesota on a student visa “feared he was being kidnapped” when plainclothes federal officers handcuffed him outside his St. Paul home and drove him away in an unmarked vehicle last Thursday morning.
According to a federal lawsuit, Doğukan Günaydin was stripped of his phone and belongings, taken to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in St. Paul, “and was left waiting for hours on end without access to his family, friends or attorney.”
University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham first notified faculty, staff, and students about the arrest Friday evening, but the university declined to identify Günaydin or provide additional information about his arrest. The first details emerged in a lawsuit filed by Twin Cities immigration attorney Hannah Brown, who did not respond to a request for comment from MPR News.
Günaydin, 28, was the first of two Minnesota college students arrested by ICE. On Monday, Minnesota State University, Mankato President Edward Inch informed the campus community in an email that immigration authorities detained the unnamed student Friday at an off-campus residence “for reasons that are unknown to us.”
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Inch added that MSU received no information from ICE, and the agency didn’t request any information from the school. The arrests were the focus of protests over the weekend in Minneapolis and Monday at the University of Minnesota.
As of Wednesday morning, Günaydin was still being held in the Sherburne County Jail, which contracts with the federal government to hold ICE detainees and others in federal custody.
Over the past month, the Trump administration has targeted foreign students for removal who’ve participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations or have spoken out against Israel’s war in Gaza. The Department of Homeland Security, without identifying Günaydin, said in a statement Monday that his arrest “is not related to student protests. The individual in question was arrested after a visa revocation by the State Dept. related to a prior criminal history for a DUI.”
But Brown alleges that the DHS statement is untrue regarding the timing of the visa revocation. She writes that a DHS official accessed the government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System on the afternoon of March 27, and terminated Günaydin’s student visa seven hours after his arrest.
In the lawsuit, Brown acknowledges Günaydin’s conviction for driving while intoxicated. According to Hennepin County court documents, an officer stopped Günaydin in downtown Minneapolis on June 24, 2023, and a preliminary breath test found that he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.20, or more than twice the legal limit for driving.
Günaydin pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor DWI in March 2024 and a judge sentenced him to community service, fined him $450, and put him on supervised probation for two years.
Brown argues that “a conviction for driving while intoxicated is not a reason” for a university or the Department of Homeland Security to terminate a student visa.
Brown adds that her client was told he’d have a hearing before an immigration judge on April 8, but “was given no documents explaining the charges against him.”
Günaydin is scheduled to appear before Immigration Judge Sarah Mazzie, April 8 at 8:30 am.
As of Wednesday, the only information provided on the government’s automated case website is, “this case is pending.”
The court document says Günaydin, attending on a full scholarship, graduated from St. Olaf College. He also was given a scholarship to attend the U’s Carlson School of Management. “He has maintained a full course load with a high GPA,” Brown wrote.
“Mr. Günaydin has attended no protests, and written no politically-driven publications,” his lawyer said. “He is close with his Carlson cohort and colleagues and is well-respected and cared-for in the Twin Cities community.”
‘A lot more’ visa enforcement coming in the future
Katherine Santamaria Mendez, an associate attorney at Wilson Law Group, said while students on visas have always been subject to specific laws, she expects an increase in these types of arrests.
“Especially with international students, the Department of State does have broader authority to try to revoke those visas, and so we're definitely going to see a lot more of that moving forward. I do think it's important for people to remember that they do have their rights to remain silent, of course, ask for a warrant if they are taken into ICE custody,”
Santamaria Mendez said international students in the U.S. on F-1 or M-1 visas are expected to leave the country after their program has ended.