A University of Minnesota student detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities last week has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration claiming unlawful detainment and demanding immediate release.
Questions swirled at the end of last week after the University of Minnesota (U of M) released a statement indicating it had learned that an international student had been detained off campus by ICE.
The University of Minnesota UMN posted a release saying that ICE detained an international graduate student at an off-campus location on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/9sioq7kteD
— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) March 29, 2025
The U of M claimed no prior cooperation or knowledge regarding the detainment, and no information was made available about the student or the reasons for their detainment last week.
However, information came to light on Tuesday when an attorney on behalf of Doğukan Günaydın, 28, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration claiming illegal detainment.
Günaydın, a Turkish citizen, was in the U.S. on a student visa until the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) canceled it last Thursday, the Associated Press said in a report about the lawsuit. Multiple outlets reported on a statement by DHS, which said that Günaydın’s student visa was revoked due to a DWI conviction last year.
Minnesota court records show that Günaydın signed a plea agreement during the course of the DWI case which had a provision stating, “I understand that if I am not a citizen of the United States, my plea of guilty may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization as a United States citizen.”
The lawsuit filed in federal court states that plain clothes officers detained Günaydın outside his St. Paul home while he was on his way to class last Thursday. “Doğukan feared he was being kidnapped as a man in a hooded sweatshirt grabbed him and handcuffed him,” the petition states. Günaydın claims in the petition that he was held for several hours after his arrest without being told why, and that his F-1 student visa was “retroactively revoked,” the AP reported. The petition alleges that the action was illegal.
Details from the DWI case state that police in downtown Minneapolis attempted to pull over Günaydın’s vehicle in June 2023 after the vehicle nearly hit a stop light and then proceeded to jump a curb. The vehicle continued to weave in the lanes and failed to signal a lane change, cutting off another vehicle. Günaydın did not immediately stop when police activated their squad lights and attempted to pull him over. Günaydın initially tested at .20 BAC and .17 about two hours later, over twice the legal limit in Minnesota. Günaydın eventually pleaded guilty to one of two DWI counts under the plea deal a few months later. He was sentenced to 180 days in the workhouse, but the sentence was stayed and Günaydın was placed on probation for two years until March 2026.
Günaydın was attending the U of M’s Carlson School of Management, had been awarded a scholarship and had maintained a full course load with a high grade-point average, the AP said.
Records indicate that Günaydın is being held in Sherburne County Jail, which contracts as a holding facility for suspects under federal detention, but his information is not available on the jail’s website. Günaydın claims he was told he will get a hearing on April 8 before an immigration judge, according to reports.
Alpha News will continue to follow developments in the case.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
