A University of Minnesota-Twin Cities graduate student has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the school.
According to a letter sent by the university to students, faculty and staff, the student was detained at an off-campus residence on Thursday.
“We are actively working to gather more details about this incident,” the letter said. “In cases like this, the University takes steps to ensure students are connected to internal resources and support, such as Student Legal Service and International Student and Scholar Services.”
The school says it had no prior knowledge of the incident and didn’t share any information with federal officials before the detainment happened.
University President Rebecca Cunningham, Vice President for Student Affairs Calvin Phillips and Vice President for Equity and Diversity Mercedes Ramírez Fernández signed the letter.
According to the university’s federal immigration policies, its public safety departments do not enforce federal immigration laws, and officers do not ask about an individual’s immigration status.
“As has been the University’s pledge over the years, we are fully committed to keeping all members of our community who are affected by immigration policies safe and well-informed so they can best navigate their responsibilities in compliance with law and policy,” the school said.
State Sen. Doron Clark (DFL-Minneapolis) said in a written statement that he was saddened and angered that the federal agency is operating around the university.
“Our campuses should be a safe place for all students, staff, and visitors,” Clark said.
In a social media post Saturday morning, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota wrote that her office “received a report that an international graduate student at the University of Minnesota was arrested by ICE officers on Thursday. We immediately contacted ICE to request information about the nature of this arrest. The University of Minnesota confirmed that they did not have any prior knowledge of or involvement in the arrest. My office is in communication with the individual’s counsel, the University of Minnesota, and other elected officials. I will provide updates as soon as I am able.”
The university’s graduate labor union organized a protest Saturday outside the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in downtown Minneapolis. Organizers said they stood in solidarity with international students facing uncertain futures as the new Trump administration pursues an immigration crackdown that has targeted people with ties to American colleges and universities.
“An increasing number of international students are being detained without due process across the country,” leaders of the University of Minnesota Graduate Labor Union-United Electrical Local 1105 said in a statement. “These constitutional violations are part of a larger plan to continue stripping our rights away from us, starting with immigrants. It will not stop there.”
The Trump administration has cited a seldom-invoked statute authorizing the secretary of state to revoke visas of noncitizens who could be considered a threat to foreign policy interests. More than half a dozen people are known to have been taken into custody or deported in recent weeks. Most of the detainees have shown support for Palestinian causes during campus protests over the war in Gaza last year.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” the union’s president, Abaki Beck, said in a statement.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also called the case “deeply troubling.”
“Educational environments must be places where all students can focus on learning and growing without fear,” he wrote on X.
Officials promised to release more information about the case once they have updates.