Texas student and permanent resident released after prolonged immigration detention

Tae Heung “Will” Kim, who has lived in the U.S. since age 5, was freed on Nov. 15 after almost four months in detention. The Texas A&M researcher was held for more than a week in an airport holding area before being transferred to an ICE facility in Raymondville, Texas. His attorneys said he was denied access to counsel during the airport detention despite multiple requests.

Kim, 40, was detained on July 21 at San Francisco International Airport after returning from a two-week trip to South Korea for his younger brother’s wedding. He remained in the airport’s holding area for an extended period where attorneys said he slept sitting upright under constant lighting and relied on food from airport concessions while requesting legal representation. Records show he was then transferred to the ICE detention center in Raymondville.

Customs and Border Protection cited a 2011 misdemeanor marijuana possession conviction in Texas as the basis for treating his reentry as a potential status violation. Kim completed community service for the offense and later petitioned to have the case sealed. His attorneys noted the conviction had never affected his legal permanent resident status, which he has held since 2011.

In October an immigration judge terminated the removal case after government attorneys did not provide court ordered documents. The Department of Homeland Security did not appeal the decision and Kim remained in custody while processing for his release continued. The National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, an advocacy group that had been supporting his case, announced on Nov. 16 that he had been released the previous day.

The group said, “We are thrilled that Will was released and able to return home. We will continue to support Will’s return to his studies at Texas A&M and work, and reiterate that this should never have happened. At every step CBP and ICE ignored Will’s constitutional right to due process.” Kim is expected to resume work on a Texas A&M research team that has been developing a vaccine candidate for Lyme disease.

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