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A removal hearing for a University of Minnesota graduate student currently held in detention by ICE has been pushed back by three weeks.  

During a brief hearing held Tuesday in the removal proceeding for Doğukan Günaydın, an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked for more time to prepare its case.

Günaydın, who is a Turkish citizen, has been detained in the Sherburne County Jail for nearly three weeks. 

The DHS is seeking to deport Günaydın because of a drunk driving conviction. Günaydın, 28, pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor DWI last year following a June 2023 incident in Minneapolis.

His attorney, Hannah Brown, has raised concerns about the delays in his hearings and suggested they are an attempt to keep him in detention.

In a recent court filing in the federal lawsuit demanding his release, Brown questioned the DHS’s decision to file a new charge against Günaydın, which also extended his detention.

“The timing of Respondents’ actions dealing with Mr. Günaydın is at best incompetent and at worst intentional gamesmanship designed to punish him and keep him detained for as long as possible,” reads the document. “Certainly, after more than two weeks of detention, Mr. Günaydın feels the latter.”

In court Tuesday, Brown said the DHS did not seem to have specific charges or allegations. 

Immigration Judge Sarah Mazzie expressed confusion, stating that the DHS had already brought forth new charges that superseded previous charges, but would nonetheless give the DHS more time. 

Outside the court, supporters and students from the U of M gathered and carried signs that read “stop the deportations” and “no human is illegal.” 

“We need to call this what it is, this is state sanctioned kidnapping and imprisonment,” said U of M undergraduate student Raxma Naasir. “They’re attempting to detain him for however long they possibly can.” 

Günaydın, who has attended his court hearings remotely from jail, is scheduled to appear in court again the first week of May.

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The removal hearing for Doğukan Günaydın has been pushed back by three weeks. He has been detained since late March. 

Supporters decry continued detention of U of M student held by ICE

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