Caught Between Borders: Texas Man’s Harrowing Eight-Day Detention

A Korean green card holder and Texas resident, Tae-heung Kim, was detained by U.S. federal agents at San Francisco International Airport and held for eight days without access to legal counsel, according to an advocacy group’s report on Wednesday.

The National Korean American Service & Education Consortium stated that Kim, 40, a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University who has lived in the U.S. since age five, was apprehended by federal agents upon returning from South Korea after attending his brother’s wedding.

The organization reported that the U.S. government has not disclosed the reason for Kim’s detention. Immigration officials have denied him contact with an attorney or direct communication with his family, except for a brief call to his mother on Friday.

Kim, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., had a misdemeanor charge for possessing a small amount of marijuana in 2011, about 14 years ago. He completed the required community service as part of his sentence.

“The Trump administration continues its assault on immigrants and undermines the Constitution,” the group declared in a statement. “Customs and Border Protection agents have arbitrarily held him in inhumane conditions for over a week, denying him access to legal counsel and preventing him from seeking his freedom or exercising his basic rights.”

Karl Krooth, Kim’s immigration attorney, expressed outrage at the detention of a lawful permanent resident for a week without access to legal representation.

“During his detention, CBP kept the lights on 24 hours a day, and Kim was deprived of daylight exposure. The only time he was near a window was at night,” Krooth stated. “He was given nothing to drink but water, fed only concession stand food, and forced to sleep in a chair instead of a bed.”