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New court filings shed light on the conditions of a University of Minnesota student who has been held in ICE custody for 50 days.

Doğukan Günaydın is fighting for his release from Sherburne County Jail after being arrested on March 27.

“Doğukan Günaydın has now languished in civil immigration detention for fifty (50) days,” reads an amended petition by his attorneys Hannah Brown and Kelsey Hines. 

In the latest court filing from May 15, Brown and Hines explain that despite the immigration court’s orders, the Department of Homeland Security continues to detain Günaydın unilaterally, with no legal justification based on the judge’s findings.

Brown and Hines argue his detention violates his statutory and constitutional rights. 

On April 14, an immigration judge ordered his release on a $5,000 bond, finding that he was not a flight risk or danger to the community. His removal proceedings were terminated by the judge, meaning he has no pending immigration case.

DHS argues Günaydın poses a public safety and national security threat because of his past drunk driving conviction. 

“This charge of deportability is rarely used,” Brown and Hines wrote in the latest court filing. “And is situated between deportability grounds related to espionage and sabotage, and attempts to overthrow the U.S. government.” 

In a written statement filed May 15, Günaydın explains that he is in a full-time two-year MBA program at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and that he has a deep passion for education and fears losing significant internship and career opportunities. 

“I have always enjoyed being in environments where I can be surrounded by people from different walks of life and get an education that feels global,” part of his statement reads. 

Günaydın also explains what his time in jail has been like, writing that he has been experiencing panic attacks, has been unable to sleep and eat and worries about the financial consequences of his detention. 

“I have not seen the sun or sky in 50 days,” he wrote. “I feel like I am being tried for a serious violent crime, like I am a dangerous criminal. I do not know why I am wearing an orange jumpsuit. I already fulfilled the punishment for the crime I committed, and it feels like I am being punished for it again.”

Court records indicate two plainclothes federal officers surrounded Günaydın on the street outside his home in St. Paul on March 27 as he was on his way to class. Records state Günaydın 

Günaydın, 28, pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor DWI last year following a June 2023 incident in Minneapolis.

Two other international students in Minnesota who were detained by ICE after having their student status terminated by DHS have now been released. Minnesota State University, Mankato student 

, of Marshall, was released after nearly two months in ICE custody.

Sarah Thamer

Author

“I keep winning in the courts, but I am still detained,” says Doğukan Günaydın, in a newly filed document in his lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, which has appealed a judge’s decision to have him freed on bond. 

Despite court rulings in his favor, U of M student still fighting for freedom from ICE custody

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