Themedia spinsays that a nice, intelligent PhD engineering student was arrested on the way to class because the Trump administration is evil and because of the color of his skin. In reality, federal authorities said that he lied on his visa application. He had a DUI, and he had signed a document stating that he knew his DUI might invalidate his visa. Because his visa had already been revoked, he was in the country illegally at thetime of his arrest.

DoğukanGünaydınis a Turkish citizen who was enrolled as a STEM MBA student at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He had previously graduated from St. Olaf College on a full scholarship. He is not a PhD student in mechanical engineering, as some accounts have claimed.

OnJune 27, 2023, Minneapolis police stopped him for erratic driving. A preliminary breath test registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit. A second test at the jail registered 0.17 percent, which still qualifies as drunk driving. He pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor DWI in March 2024.

Notably,dashcam videofrom the 2023 arrest shows him asking the arresting officer whether the arrest would affect his immigration status, suggesting he understood the potential consequences even before signinghis plea agreement. The plea document itself, which both Günaydın and his attorney signed, states in its 15th clause that a guilty plea by a non-citizen may result in deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization.

On March 27, 2025, ICE arrested Günaydın outside his St. Paul apartment as he walked to class. DHS cited his 2023 DWI conviction as the basis for revoking his visa. He was held at the Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minnesota.

The government’s allegation that he lied on his visa application stems from his F-1 student visa application, in which he was required to demonstrate non-immigrant intent, meaning he intended to return to Turkey after his studies. The government alleged that he never had that intent and was using the student visa as a pathway to permanent residence, which would constitute misrepresentation on his application. That charge was ultimately dismissed by the immigration judge.

ImmigrationJudge Sarah Mazzieordered Günaydın released on bond on April 14 and, on April 30, terminated the deportation proceedings entirely. DHS then invoked a rarely used post-9/11 automatic stay provision to override the immigration court ruling and keep him detained. A federal judge ordered his release on May 22, 2025, ruling that his continued detention violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process.

Themedia framedthe case as a test of whether the Trump administration could use minor crimes as a pretext to deport high-achieving students. However, DWI is not a minor crime. Similar framing is being used repeatedly in the mainstream media.

Just a few days ago, the Joytu Chowdhury case appeared in several national media stories describing him as “hardworking, dedicated, and deeply committed to his education.” The headlines centered on “inhumane” ICE detention conditions, focusing on Chowdhury’s account of his ordeal. Buried in the articles is the DHS response: “Chowdhury’s criminalhistory includes convictions for driving under the influence and retail theft.”

Claims about Günaydın being a PhD may stem from a similar case that is sometimes conflated with his, namely that ofRümeysa Öztürk, the Turkish PhD student at Tufts University. The false media framing of her case was that she was deported for writing a pro-Palestine paper, which is, of course, not an offense and is categorically a lie.

Source: The Gateway Pundit