An immigration judge has terminated the deportation case against Doğukan Günaydin, the University of Minnesota student who was arrested in late March, although he is expected to remain in custody as the federal government appeals the decision.

Immigration Judge Sarah Mazzie filed the ruling on Thursday. It came days after U.S. federal court Judge Jeffrey Bryan ruled that the government cannot move Günaydin outside the federal court district of Minnesota.

Günaydin was arrested March 27 by plainclothes officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. The government has since begun removal proceedings under the argument that his 2023 conviction of drunken driving makes him a danger to the public.

Günaydin, 28, is a graduate student at the Carlson School of Management. He arrived in the U.S. in 2017 and previously studied at St. Olaf College. Court records said Günaydin has fallen behind in school since his arrest and is worried he will lose a summer internship he secured.

Mazzie concluded the federal government had failed to demonstrate why Günaydin posed a danger to the public. She said his drunken driving was no doubt dangerous, but "the evidence is insufficient to establish he placed a large segment of the general population at risk."

Laura Trosen, an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security, filed for an appeal Friday, which will keep Günaydin in custody.

Bryan granted Günaydin's request that he not be transferred or otherwise moved out of the district while other court proceedings continue. Bryan said the government has provided inconsistent justifications for Günaydin's detention. He also argued that Günaydin does not present a flight risk and that he could suffer irreparable harm if he were moved elsewhere.

Bryan declined two other requests from Günaydin: that the government reinstate his immigration status as a student and a request for immediate release from custody.

Sarah Nelson of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.