ICE hasn’t said why it detained the student, and the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Leaders from the University of Minnesota said in a statement this week that an international graduate student is being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The school’s leadership said ICE had detained the student on March 27 at off-campus housing, describing the situation as “deeply concerning.” The graduate student is enrolled at the university’s Twin Cities campus business school.
ICE hasn’t said why it detained the student, and the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
University of Minnesota officials said the school is offering the student legal services and other support and that the school didn’t share information with federal agents, who didn’t provide them advance warning about the detention.
On Friday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on social platform X that he is seeking more information.
I just spoke with Homeland Security to get more information and I will share when I learn more.
— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) March 29, 2025
The University of Minnesota is an international destination for education and research. We have any number of students studying here with visas, and we need answers. https://t.co/CWGvW884G1
“I just spoke with Homeland Security to get more information and I will share when I learn more,” Walz said.
“The University of Minnesota is an international destination for education and research. We have any number of students studying here with visas, and we need answers.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on March 27 that the United States may have revoked more than 300 visas so far, as he spoke out against people who receive U.S. student visas and then engage in criminal activity.
“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio said during a press conference in Guyana. He said if foreign students ”want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa.”
“If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States, and with that visa participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa.”
By Jacob Burg
