U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a graduate student attending the University of Minnesota earlier this week, the school said Friday in a statement that called the situation “deeply concerning.”
The student was taken into custody on Thursday at an off-campus residence, the school’s president, Rebecca Cunningham, said in the statement.
“The university had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred,” the statement said.
The university did not identify the student’s name, nationality or visa type. Jake Ricker, a university spokesman, said the student was enrolled in the Carlson School of Management.
ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for information about the case.
The arrest follows other incidents in which ICE targeted international students or scholars at American universities. Three involved students at Columbia University. The other individuals ICE detained or sought to arrest attended Brown, Tufts, Cornell and the University of Alabama.
Another case that drew consternation among civil liberties advocates involved Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and recent graduate at Columbia University who had his green card revoked.
A common factor in some of those cases has been the students’ involvement in pro-Palestinian protests or writings last year.
Mr. Khalil, who was born in Syria to Palestinian refugees, and who is married to an American citizen, is fighting in federal court the government’s efforts to deport him.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters aboard his plane on Thursday that U.S. officials were “going to err on the side of caution” in weighing visa revocations.
“We are not going to be importing activists into the United States,” Mr. Rubio said. “They’re here to study. They’re here to go to class. They’re not here to lead activist movements that are disruptive and undermine” universities.
While Thursday’s arrest was the first publicly known immigration enforcement action involving a University of Minnesota student, the Trump administration signaled weeks ago that it was scrutinizing the college.
The Justice Department announced last month that Minnesota was among 10 schools that investigators would visit to determine whether they “failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination.”
The Twin Cities campus — the flagship of Minnesota’s five campuses — was on a list of 60 colleges the Department of Education warned this month were at risk of “potential enforcement actions” because of accusations of antisemitism.
Minnesota, which was among the major universities that had a pro-Palestinian protest encampment last spring, has grappled for more than a year with concerns about speech on campus.
Two weeks ago the university’s board of regents declared that Minnesota should largely refrain from issuing official statements about “matters of public concern or public interest.”
Top elected officials in the state said Friday evening that they were awaiting more details about Thursday’s arrest, but some signaled alarm.
“Our campuses should be a safe place for all students, staff, and visitors,” State Senator Doron Clark said in a statement. “We must stand up against the Trump administration’s senseless demonization of our friends, family and neighbors.”
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