An international graduate student at the University of Minnesota was captured Thursday by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, prompting statements from the university president, graduate labor union and Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
University president Rebecca Cunningham informed the student body in a statement on Friday that the unidentified student was detained at an off-campus residence.
“We are actively working to gather more details about this incident,” Cunningham wrote, adding, “The university had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred.”
Details on the student’s nationality, or reasons why they may have been detained, were not immediately available. The student was enrolled in the Carlson School of Management, university spokesperson Jake Ricker told The New York Times.
The news follows similar incidents in which ICE has targeted international students, professors or recent graduates at American schools, including Brown University, Columbia University, Tufts University and the University of Alabama.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio boasted Thursday that at least 300 student visas have been revoked since President Donald Trump took office. The administration has taken aim at those who have participated in demonstrations against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and Rubio added that it’s looking “every day” for more students to target.
The school’s graduate labor union slammed the Trump administration’s actions in a statement shared with The Minnesota Star Tribune.
“These actions are an affront to our civil liberties and the tenants of academic freedom,” the union wrote. “International students are a pillar of our university community and our union. We … will not stand by and allow their rights to be trampled.”
Walz, who ran as the Democratic vice presidential candidate in last year’s election, wrote Friday on social media that he has spoken with officials from the Department of Homeland Security about the ICE arrest in Minnesota this week.
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“The University of Minnesota is an international destination for education and research,” the governor said on X. “We have any number of students studying here with visas, and we need answers.”