Immigration judge ends removal case of student in ICE custody but he remains jailed

An immigration judge has dismissed the removal case against an international graduate student at the University of Minnesota who has been in ICE custody for more than a month. However, it appears he will remain in custody during an appeal. 

Doğukan Günaydın, a citizen of Turkey, has been fighting in immigration court and in federal court to be released from Sherburne County Jail, where he's been since was arrested March 27 after his student status was terminated. 

On Wednesday, Immigration Judge Sarah Mazzie issued a decision that says while Günaydın engaged in dangerous activity when he drove drunk in 2023, there's not enough evidence to show that he endangered a large segment of the population. 

“He was travelling at a normal pace,” writes Mazzie. “Police followed Respondent for seven blocks before stopping him, which lends support for the argument that Respondent did not pose an imminent or substantial risk to person or property.”  

Günaydın pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor DWI in March 2024.  

Mazzie found that the Department of Homeland Security had not established its case to have Günaydın removed.  And she ordered the removal proceedings be terminated. The hearing scheduled for next week in Günaydın’s case was canceled.

However, DHS disagreed with Mazzie’s decision and will appeal.

“The Immigration Judge erred in failing to find that driving dangerously while severely intoxicated is criminal activity that endangers public safety and as a result erred in terminating the removal proceedings where the respondent was properly charged…as an alien who has engaged in criminal activity that endangered public safety,” reads the notice of appeal filed by attorney Laura Trosen.

Günaydın is one of four international students in Minnesota detained by ICE after having their student status terminated by the Department of Homeland Security.  Minnesota State University, Mankato student Mohammed Hoque and Aditya Harsono, of Marshall are still in custody.  The identity of the fourth person is not publicly known. In a court document filed in Hoque’s federal case, an expert witness said he’s aware of four students in custody, but didn’t name the fourth person.