Local, state and national leaders are demanding answers from immigration enforcement after the detention of yet another university student.
The University of Minnesota says US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained an international graduate student on Thursday, according to a letter to the school community posted Friday.
The student, enrolled on the Twin Cities campus, was detained at an off-campus residence and the school is actively working to gather more details, according to the letter from school officials.
The university did not identify the student.
The detainment comes as several foreign nationals affiliated with prestigious American universities have been arrested for purported activities related to terrorist organizations amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment on the University of Minnesota case, deferring to ICE, which did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
An attorney for the detained student declined comment to CNN, saying it’s a “highly sensitive situation” and they want to protect their client’s privacy.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a post on X she and her office are in contact with the university and are doing “all we can to get information about this concerning case.”
The school had no prior knowledge of their student’s detainment and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred, said the letter to the school community, signed by university President Rebecca Cunningham, Vice President for Student Affairs Calvin Phillips and Vice President for Equity and Diversity Mercedes Ramírez Fernández.
“It is important to note that our campus departments of public safety, including UMPD, do not enforce federal immigration laws, and our officers do not inquire about an individual’s immigration status,” the statement read.
‘We need answers’
The silence from ICE on the detention has prompted urgent questions from state and local officials.
“I just spoke with Homeland Security to get more information and I will share when I learn more,” Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on X. “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.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey posted on X, “The recent detainment of a U of M student is deeply troubling. Educational environments must be places where all students can focus on learning and growing without fear. I’m in contact with the U and closely monitoring the situation.”
“What stood out to me was the lack of information,” Democratic Minnesota state Sen. Doron Clark told CNN affiliate KARE. “We don’t know where the student is, we don’t know the student’s name, we just don’t know what happened … The only way we found out was not from the federal government … I think the blindness to what is going on is maddening, and it’s frightening,” Clark, who represents parts of the university area, told KARE.
“We need a rapid response from leaders at all levels on what we can do to protect everyone in our community,” Democratic state Sen. Omar Fateh said on social media.
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