After Trump’s inauguration, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the United States intensified its operations against illegal immigrants, quickly expanding these actions to include permanent residents with legal status. On July 29th local time,
A shocking incident involving a Korean medical doctor who was subjected to “inhumane” detention by an intermediary attorney was exposed, sparking outrage from the Korean-American Service and Education Alliance.
▲ Kim Taesung (right) attends his brother’s wedding
Kim Taesung, now 40 years old, was born in South Korea but moved with his parents to Texas, USA, at the age of five. Before his father passed away, Kim Taesung worked as an apprentice in a family-run toy factory. However, he later applied for and obtained a PhD in Texas A&M University, focusing on the treatment of Lyme disease—a human-animal infectious disease caused by tick bites.
Although Kim Taesung did not obtain U.S. citizenship, he had already acquired a green card (permanent resident status).
In July this year, Kim Taesung took two weeks off work to return to South Korea for his brother’s wedding.
On July 21st, upon entering San Francisco International Airport in the United States, he was detained without any reason given by law enforcement.
Intermediary attorney Eric stated that he is currently unable to communicate with the individual involved and does not know Kim Taesung’s whereabouts. People from the Senate Immigration Office told Eric that Kim Taesung would be transferred to a detention center, but the information received by the Korean Consulate was that he would be sent to another city in the United States. The ICE only vaguely mentioned, “This foreign individual is awaiting a hearing; if it is unfavorable to him, he will be deported.”
Kim Taesung was initially detained in a “small black room” inside the airport without windows, drinking only tap water and convenience food sold at the supermarket, with lighting kept on 24/7.
“We do not know where he will end up or why he was detained; he has no criminal record.”
Mrs. Kim expressed that she has only had one brief phone call so far. In addition, she believes her son’s text messages are very abnormal. When she asked Kim Taesung if he could eat and sleep normally in his messages, he replied simply, “Don’t worry,” suspecting that immigration officials were operating his phone to reply. Mrs. Kim also raised concerns about Kim Taesung carrying an inhaler for asthma, which might not have been enough to meet his needs, posing health or even life-threatening risks.
According to the guidelines published by the ICE, their agents should not detain someone for more than 72 hours.