South Korean man detained at green card interview remains in ICE custody

A South Korean man who has lived in the U.S. since infancy was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a routine green card interview in Los Angeles in October and has remained in custody for more than 40 days.

What happened: Taeha Hwang, 39, and his wife Xelena Diaz were expecting a straightforward, marriage-based green card appointment on Oct. 29 when ICE agents instead took him into custody over a deportation order issued in May 2024. The order reportedly arose after he missed an immigration hearing related to his conditional visa from a previous marriage. However, Diaz said her husband never received court notices after changing addresses following his 2021 divorce.

Hwang, who arrived in the U.S. at 3 months old, is being held at the Adelanto Detention Center. “I wasn’t expecting to get arrested. It was very frightening to be honest,” he told KABC over the phone. “I am very sad and depressed.” In a statement to Newsweek, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called Hwang “an illegal alien from South Korea” who overstayed his F-1 student visa, ignored a notice to appear before an immigration judge and was issued a final removal order on May 20, 2024.

The big picture: Hwang’s detention reflects a growing pattern of immigrants being arrested during routine immigration appointments. Last month, a Chinese father and his 6-year-old son were separated during a check-in in New York. While the child has been confirmed to be in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his whereabouts remained unknown as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, Filipino American activist Alma Bowman, who recently secured her release, was also separated from her family during a scheduled appointment in Atlanta in March.

The enforcement surge comes as the Trump administration has revoked more than 6,000 student visas this year for alleged criminal violations and overstays, with significant impact on Asian communities. What were once administrative touchpoints have become high-risk encounters where families can be detained or separated without warning. And as seen in Hwang’s case, a single missed notice can now result in detention despite decades of U.S. residency.

What his wife is saying: Diaz described her husband’s treatment at Adelanto as inhumane, telling KTLA he is “locked up like a dog for 41 days and counting.” His unit reportedly houses 140 men, has inadequate ventilation and “showers that smell like fecal matter.”

Hwang has spent more than two decades building his life in Los Angeles, working as a waiter to support himself. He and Diaz married in February after meeting through a mutual friend. “Taeha has always been the primary provider for our household, and the emotional and financial strain of his detention has been overwhelming,” Diaz wrote in a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised $11,116 as of this writing.

A judge lifted Hwang’s deportation order on Nov. 26, with a new hearing scheduled for March 27, 2026.