Tae-Heung Kim, a 40-year-old Korean American permanent resident, who had been detained for more than a week at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), has been transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Florence, Arizona, according to the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Kyung-Han Kang, a consul at the Korean consulate, confirmed on July 30 that contact has been made with the ICE facility and that the consulate is awaiting a response. “If direct communication with Kim is established, we will check his health condition, provide attorney information, and determine whether he is facing any difficulties,” Kang said. He added that consular assistance requires a direct request from Kim himself.
ICE custody indicates that deportation proceedings are underway. Rusty Payne, spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), stated, “This alien is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.”
Kim was initially detained by CBP at SFO on July 21 during secondary inspection after returning from South Korea, where he had attended his brother’s wedding.
In response to the detention, a public campaign calling for Kim’s release has been launched. The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) has initiated an online petition and sent an open letter to Michael McCaul, who represents Texas’s 10th district in Congress.
The petition asserts that Kim, who has lived in the United States legally for more than 35 years, is being detained without access to his constitutional rights. It demands his immediate release, public explanations from CBP and ICE, and systemic reforms to prevent similar incidents in the future.
BY HANKIL KANG [kang.hankil@koreadaily.com]
