A University of Minnesota graduate student from Turkey recently filed a lawsuit after he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It comes as more than half a dozen people with ties to universities have been taken into custody or deported in recent weeks, sparking protests across the U.S.

RELATED: ICE arrests MSU international student in latest enforcement targeting college campuses

The Trump administration has cited a statute authorizing the secretary of state to revoke visas of non-citizens who could be considered a threat.

Law experts explained that while the reasoning for students being detained is “unusual,” the Department of Homeland Security has the final say.

“In terms of like whether or not this is normal or if there’s a history of this happening before, the answer is no, this is highly unusual,” Ana Pottratz Acosta, Mitchell Hamline School of Law professor, said.

One of the latest incidents that caught her attention was a University of Minnesota graduate student being detained by ICE off campus on Friday.

The Department of Homeland Security says the arrest was not related to student protests, but the state department revoked his visa because of a prior DUI conviction.

“In immigration law, a DUI is considered a lower level offense that normally wouldn’t result in somebody having their student visa status terminated,” Acosta said.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of the student alleges the arrest violated his rights, and he’s been given little explanation for why he’s being held. The lawsuit also claims the student’s visa was revoked a day before his arrest.

Law experts explained that normally, if a student is in this situation, they have a right to plead their case in court.

“I was just at a student presentation yesterday, and it was an art class. The students were saying, ‘We’re really afraid to go outside,’” Ryan Perez, COPAL Minnesota, said. “It’s really sad and disgusting to imagine people are walking around with that little dignity that you know they have to be afraid that someone in plain clothes is going to go and arrest them, take them to a detention center miles and miles away without contact with their family.”

COPAL MN is a nonprofit that advocates for immigrant rights.

Some predict the impact of arresting international students will travel far beyond college campuses.

“People who want to study here make a dream here are going to be afraid to come here,” Perez said.  “I’m really concerned about what ramifications does this have on the American education system in five to 10 years.”

Acosta explained that a reduced number of international students could impact research and STEM fields where a lot of the talent comes from outside of the U.S.

“That’s going to result in a brain drain where we’re not able to recruit as much talent from the international community to come to universities in the United States,” Acosta said.

Records show that the University of Minnesota student who was detained by ICE is being held in the Sherburne County jail.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to the lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the student for comment, but we have not heard back yet.