A University of Minnesota international student detained by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month is not a threat to public safety and should be released from jail, his lawyer argued in immigration court on Friday.
But the counsel for the Department of Homeland Security argued that his conviction for a 2023 drunk-driving offense merited his continued imprisonment.
For the past two weeks, Doğukan Günaydın, a graduate student from Turkey studying business at the Carlson School of Management, has been detained by ICE at the Sherburne County jail. He was arrested by ICE on March 27 near the apartment where he lived alone with his dog. Federal authorities cited his drunk-driving conviction as reason to detain him and begin deportation proceedings.
About 100 people, many wearing clothing representing St. Olaf College or the University of Minnesota, came to support Günaydin on Friday. Many who were not able to gain entrance to the small courtroom watched the hearing from their phones or laptops.
@sahanjournal Students and supporters gathered outside federal immigration court on Friday in support of University of Minnesota MBA student Doğukan Günaydın as his lawyer and federal prosecutors traded arguments over whether he should be released on bond. Video by @dymanh #ice #minnesota #deportation #immigration #studentvisa #trump #studentprotest #umn #universityofminnesota #protest ♬ original sound – Sahan Journal
Immigration Court Judge Sarah Mazzie asked whether Günaydın had family locally. Hannah Brown, his lawyer, said that while he does not have family in the United States, he has close friends with whom he spends holidays.
“Judging by the folks here to support him a few days ago, he seems to have community support,” Mazzie said.
Günaydın appeared virtually for his hearing, from the Sherburne County jail. Though Brown had previously said he might testify today, she told Mazzie she had decided that since it was a legal matter, her client’s testimony was not necessary.
Brown stressed that her client “took this mistake very, very seriously.”
After the drunk-driving arrest, he sold his car, and he no longer has a valid driver’s license, so the risk of reoffending is quite low, Brown said.
She acknowledged that drunk driving is a serious offense and emphasized that she and Günaydın did not want to minimize it. But she said the relevant statute — allowing someone to be deported if they engage in “any other criminal activity which endangers public safety or national security” — did not apply here.
There is only one precedential case law example of this provision of law, which involved someone shooting laser beams into a helicopter pilot’s eyes, causing him to temporarily lose control of the helicopter. That action, Brown said, endangered the entire population of Philadelphia.
By contrast, she said, Günaydın had been driving at a low rate of speed late at night for less than a mile, which she said was “clearly distinguishable” from the facts in the Philadelphia helicopter case.
Laura Trosen, arguing for the Department of Homeland Security, presented facts and statistics about the risks of driving while intoxicated. When someone has a blood alcohol content greater than .15, there is “substantial impairment of vehicle control,” she said. “The potential danger is very high.” She noted that Günaydın’s blood alcohol content was even higher at the time of his arrest.
Trosen pointed out that Günaydın almost hit a stoplight, cut someone off, initially pulled over for police and then pulled away again. “It’s a very serious situation,” she said.
Mazzie pointed out that Günaydın was only driving for a short period of time that night because police pulled him over. “What if they hadn’t?” she pressed Brown.
Brown said he most likely would have continued driving to his home, a short distance away. She also stressed that the police report made clear he was not evading police.
Trosen said that the standard of continued detention was whether DHS was “substantially unlikely” to prevail. Since in her view, DHS is likely to win the case, Günaydın should stay in jail, she said. Brown said she agreed that was the standard, but that she disagreed about the likelihood of DHS prevailing.
Mazzie said she would issue a written decision as soon as practicable.
‘International students don’t have to be perfect’
Student groups, including the Students for a Democratic Society and Educators for Justice in Palestine, begin arriving early Friday morning at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, where the immigration court is housed, before Günaydın hearing.
Fikret Insel, who attended St. Olaf with Günaydın, said Günaydın had been like a big brother to him at college. At a school with few Turkish students, Günaydın took Insel under his wing, helping him acclimate to American culture, driving him to get groceries and helping him create a bank account.
Hearing that Günaydın had been arrested was “so scary,” he said. He’d been frightened to see that a Turkish student at Tufts University, Rümeysa Öztürk, was arrested by ICE. Günaydın’s arrest was even closer to home. The DUI conviction seemed like “just an excuse” to deport Günaydın, Insel said.
One student, wearing a mask, held a sign that said “Intl students don’t have to be perfect to be welcome.”
Everyone makes mistakes, and amending one’s mistakes is part of being human, she said. She did not want to give her name, because she is an international student herself, she said.
“I’m protected because I have an English-sounding name,” she said through tears. But some of her classmates are at greater risk, she said. “I’m really scared for them.”
That sign resonated with Sarah Kenzie, a friend of Günaydın’s from St. Olaf, who described Günaydın as an “amazing person.”
“It’s okay for somebody to make a mistake, and that doesn’t mean we kidnap them and revoke their visa,” Kenzie said.
Amala Harrison, a friend of Günaydın’s and a teacher at East View Academy in Little Canada, said Günaydın had donated to her classroom fundraisers. “He’s really supportive, and very loving, and has a lot of friends who are supporting him,” she said.
Kyle Feldhake, a graduate student at the U’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, said he thought it was important to stand up to the Trump administration.
“Every deportation is destroying someone’s family or destroying someone’s educational attainment,” he said, which he attributed to a “fascist desire to deport people with no reasonable reasons.”
He said it was particularly concerning that the hearing focused on whether it was safe for Günaydın to be released to the public, following a two-year-old drunk driving offense.
His friend Mackenan Miller agreed.
“This is only the beginning,” Miller said, noting ICE also arrested an international student in Mankato. “It’s important to go to all of them. If we let one slide, it’s going to give the Trump administration permission to do more of these. We have a duty to protect each other, and this is how we do it.”
Günaydın’s next hearing, focused on his removal proceedings, is scheduled for April 15.
He also has a pending federal lawsuit alleging that his legal student status was unlawfully terminated and his constitutional rights were violated.
Sahan Journal photographer Aaron Nesheim contributed to this report.
