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(CNN) — A University of Minnesota graduate student who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last week was taken into custody because of a prior drunken driving incident and not for involvement in campus protests, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.
“This is not related to student protests,” the official said in a statement on Monday. “The individual in question was arrested after a visa revocation by the State Dept. related to a prior criminal history for a DUI.”
In a letter to the campus community, the University of Minnesota said the individual was an “international student” who was detained last Thursday at an off-campus residence.
The student, who has not been identified, is enrolled at the Twin Cities campus. CNN reached out to the student’s attorney on Monday for an update following the DHS statement on the reasoning for the arrest but did not immediately hear back.
However, the attorney said in an earlier statement to CNN that the case was “highly sensitive situation” and they wanted to protect their client’s privacy.
Detaining an international student over a prior DUI conviction seems to suggest a different approach by immigration officials who, so far, appear focused on students who have participated in protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
In recent weeks, several foreign nationals affiliated with prestigious American universities have been arrested amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The series of arrests and deportation proceedings brought against students and scholars has sent shock waves across the academic community and raised concerns about the protection of free speech.
The University of Minnesota had no prior knowledge of the student’s detainment and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred, the letter to the school community said, which was signed by the university president and other school officials.
“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.
CNN’s Kelly Muray, Sabrina Souza, Kara Devlin and Hanna Park contributed to this report.
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