MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The Trump administration repeatedly failed to justify its targeting of international students on college campuses across Minnesota earlier this year, according to a FOX 9 Investigators review of federal court records. In those cases, nearly a dozen international students were granted relief after they were detained by ICE or had their student immigration status revoked because the federal government submitted little to “no evidence.” The administration lost in every case reviewed by the FOX 9 Investigators.
Study authorization terminated
Timeline:
During the spring semester, dozens of international students studying on Minnesota college and university campuses had their study authorization records terminated in a federal database maintained by ICE. This included:
22 students at Concordia University in St. Paul12 students at Minnesota State Mankato11 students in the University of Minnesota system8 students at St. Cloud State University
The move sent shock waves across the state’s campuses as impacted students had their legal status in the United States thrown into question.
“I was shocked and, of course, angry that there had been no communication about this,” said William Coghill-Behrends, Dean of Global Education at Minnesota State-Mankato.
“My concern was more about what the impact would be on the students. These are young people and to randomly find out from one of our staff members that their record had been terminated without any advanced notification was shocking for them. It was really traumatic for them and they are young people.”
Amid mounting protests and court battles, the Trump administration reversed course and reinstated many of the records within a few weeks. But school administrators fear the damage and distrust has already been done. The FOX 9 Investigators found at least two students self-deported as a result.
Other students were detained by ICE near their campuses and spent several weeks locked up before judges ordered their release.
Students detained by ICE
The backstory:
The most high-profile case involved a University of Minnesota graduate student from Turkey who was enrolled at the Carlson School of Management. Dogukan Gunaydin was held in ICE detention for 56 days. His case led to multiple protests on campus as well as outside the immigration court facilities.
Gunaydin was arrested March 27 as the government argued he posed a public safety threat because of a prior drunk driving offense.
His legal team responded that the crime was not a deportable offense. An Immigration Court judge ultimately agreed, terminating removal proceedings against Gunaydin. But government attorneys appealed the ruling, keeping Gunaydin behind bars even as they acknowledged “Gunaydin is winning.”
On May 21, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Bryan ordered Gunaydin’s immediate release.
In his ruling, Judge Bryan wrote, “the Court expresses its concern that agency officials have exceeded the authority delegated to the agency by Congress.”
A day later, Gunaydin walked out of custody. He said at the time, “I am deeply troubled and harmed by this clear violation of my constitutional right for due process. It took 56 days to undo something that should not have happened in the first place. 56 days I did not see the sun or sky.”
Dig deeper:
The FOX 9 Investigators found students from India, China and Indonesia who were caught up in the Trump Administration’s immigration sweep across higher education.
A student from Bangladesh was detained by ICE near the Minnesota State Mankato campus in late March. He was locked up for 40 days before a federal judge ordered his release.
The government argued Mohammed Hoque was a public safety threat because he had been charged with a crime in a minor, misdemeanor assault case from two years ago.
But U.S. District Court Judge Jerry Blackwell found Hoque was targeted because of his social media posts supporting Palestinian human rights.
In his final order, Judge Blackwell wrote, “The record contains sufficiently clear evidence of viewpoint-based targeting for (Hoque’s) exercise of protected speech on a matter of public concern…(Hoque’s) arrest aligns with the publicly stated executive policy of targeting social media users who express support for Palestinian human rights and criticize violence in Gaza.”
The administration lost in every case reviewed by the FOX 9 Investigators.
In those cases, federal judges found the Trump administration submitted “no evidence” in several cases, targeted students for their expression of free speech, and accused the government of violating the law in using the immigration system to punish students.
Judges warned the government’s actions could have a chilling effect on free speech and college administrators are taking additional steps to protect international students who fear they will not be able to return to campus.
Not just Ivy League Schools
Local perspective:
At Carleton College, an elite liberal arts school of about 2,000 students in Northfield, the campus has an international student population of about 11%.
College President Alison Byerly told the FOX 9 Investigators she is concerned about the administration’s immigration crackdown.
“Right now, the main concern is with incoming students,” explained Byerly. “The students who are here and who have visas are certainly concerned about the possibility of their visas being revoked, but the challenge for students who are not yet here and are looking for the visas they would need to start their studies in the fall really is the major concern for us.”
Byerly said the college has opened additional housing this summer to accommodate international students who are anxious about leaving the country.
Said Byerly, “What’s different this year is that a lot of students who had not planned to be on campus are now afraid to travel, not sure if they can return easily, and so we have had to open up some extra space for many dozens of students, who weren’t initially planning to stay here.”
Carleton is offering special support for those students, including helping them find summer jobs to cover their additional expenses in Minnesota. Byerly said free housing has been offered to those who have no other options.
Byerly described the uncertainty over international student immigration policies making it difficult for her administration to prepare for the fall.
For example, Carleton has several students expected to arrive from countries the Trump administration recently added to the United States travel ban list.
“Most of us are set up to accept a certain number of students and we aim for the number of students that fill our classes, fill our beds, fill out campuses,” Byerly said. “And to be unsure about whether we will meet those numbers or not, certainly represents not only a financial challenge for us as an institution, but of course, changes in lots of other planning.”