University of Minnesota student detained by ICE appears in immigration court, might testify Friday

Sarah Nelson, Star Tribune on Apr 8, 2025

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MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota student jailed since late March after he was arrested by ICE agents and stripped of his student visa made his first appearance in federal immigration court Tuesday, where he is expected to testify on his own behalf later this week.

In a packed courtroom Tuesday morning, Immigration Judge Sarah Mazzie granted a request from Dogukan Gunaydin’s attorney to push discussion about his detention to Friday, and another hearing about his residency in the United States to April 15.

Hannah Brown, who’s representing the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management master’s student from Turkey, told the judge she wished to hold a Joseph hearing — a specific type of bond proceeding that allows testimony and evidence. She challenged the Department of Homeland Security’s continued detention of Gunaydin, saying he’s being held on a charge typically reserved for terrorists.

The attorney for the Department of Homeland Security declined to respond to Brown’s comment before Mazzie agreed to continue the hearing.

Gunaydin, 28, appeared virtually in an orange jumpsuit from Sherburne County jail where he’s been held since March 27 after immigration officers arrested him outside his St. Paul apartment. Government officials said the arrest stemmed from his drunken driving conviction in 2023. His student visa card was also revoked.

Gunaydin said he was given no reason for his arrest when officers took him in and was denied his right to due process. In a petition filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, he called for his release while the immigration case remained pending.

Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko last week ordered the federal government to provide a reason for Gunaydin’s visa revocation and jail time. In their response, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, on behalf of President Donald Trump and some of his Cabinet members, said the court does not have the authority to weigh into the “discretionary decision” of ICE.

The federal government added that immigration court, not the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, is the “sole forum” where Gunaydin should raise questions about his detention.

“This Court should allow those proceedings to play out,” the filing said.

Prior to the bond hearing, Brown asked for the immigration proceedings to be closed to the public, citing how Gunaydin’s life has been “thrust into the public eye” and details about him have been shared in the media.

Mazzie declined to close the hearing, stating privacy alone isn’t a reason and they “can’t put the genie back in the bottle.”

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