A Turkish University of Minnesota graduate student who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month appeared in court Friday as his lawyer argued for his release.

Doğukan Günaydın, 28, is one of at least 10 college students in Minnesota who have run into trouble with their student visas. He appeared by video for Friday’s hearing.

ICE arrested Günaydın on March 27, and a senior official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security says his student visa was revoked because of a 2023 DWI conviction.

Minneapolis police squad car video shows the moments Günaydın was arrested for drunk driving in 2023.

In the video, you can hear Günaydın ask the officer if the arrest will impact his student visa.

“I just want to make sure that like, in absolute way, that like this does not impact my legal presence in this country,” Günaydın said in a 2023 MPD dash squad car video.

Günaydın had previously pleaded guilty to the DWI charge, in which he acknowledged that he could face deportation due to that conviction.

However, Günaydın has since filed a lawsuit against ICE, arguing his constitutional rights were violated because he was arrested before his student visa had been revoked.

During a bond hearing on Friday, U.S. prosecutors asked to keep Günaydın in jail until his case is through, telling the judge he is a danger to public safety because of his DWI arrest. They argue that just because someone didn’t die as a result of his drunken driving doesn’t mean he didn’t put people’s safety at risk.

Günaydın’s attorney, however, pointed to the police report from that arrest, saying he wasn’t speeding, didn’t try to evade police and has stayed out of trouble ever since.

A crowd of demonstrators gathered Friday morning outside the Henry Whipple Federal Building in solidarity with Günaydın, saying international students shouldn’t have to be perfect to be welcome in the U.S.

“This really isn’t to me about the DUI, it’s more of a political statement about immigrants’ rights in this country,” one demonstrator said. “And I believe immigrants have the right to be here whether or not they make mistakes.”

“Certainly we have seen this administration expanding the use of all of the various statutes and rules and regulations under the immigration laws, many of which have not been used for decades,” Julia Decker, Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota policy director, said.

Court documents show what Günaydın signed in his petition to enter a guilty plea for drunk driving.

In the 15th clause, it outlines if the defendant is not a U.S. Citizen, their guilty plea may result in immigration consequences.

“A very general adviser of ‘This might have immigration consequences’ simply is often not enough for anybody to understand these ins and outs and intricacies,” Decker said. “Immigration law is very complicated anyways, but when we start talking about which state criminal convictions, or even criminal charges that can lead to immigration consequences, things get very thorny very quickly.”

Decker explained immigration-related action is decided on a case-by-case basis, and it’s complicated.

“What seriousness of criminal conviction should actually lead to detention and deportation? I think is the question that we are all asking,” Decker said. “We are seeing what we would potentially deem as offenses that maybe don’t warrant that disproportionate consequence of having somebody lose their status and be removed from the country.”

The parties involved in the case are now waiting for a written decision from the federal immigration judge on what’s next for Günaydın. In the meantime, he remains in custody at the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office in Elk River.

You can view Günaydın’s petition to enter a guilty plea below.