A Texas researcher was held at an airport for over a week. Now he faces deportation

Source: Associated Press

A Texas researcher was held at an airport for over a week. Now he faces deportation

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Updated 4:40 PM EDT, July 31, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A researcher at Texas A&M University flying home from abroad was detained for more than a week by immigration authorities at the San Francisco International Airport, sleeping in a chair and living off food sold in the airport, his family and attorneys said Thursday.

It was unclear why Tae Heung “Will” Kim, who is a legal permanent resident with a green card, was detained July 21, his attorney Karl Krooth said at a news conference. Kim, who went to South Korea to attend his brother’s wedding, is now in removal proceedings to be deported and is being held at an immigration detention facility in Arizona, Krooth said, adding that he has yet to talk to his client.

Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that any green card holder who has a drug offense is in violation of their legal status and can be detained. His attorneys said Kim was charged in 2011 with misdemeanor marijuana possession in Texas, where recreational use is illegal.

His attorneys declined to discuss those charges Thursday. But one attorney told the Washington Post, which first reported on Kim’s detention, that he fulfilled a community service requirement and successfully petitioned for nondisclosure to seal the offense from the public record.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/texas-researcher-detained-san-francisco-airport-d038b3cca949f0f028eb9e17d350a79a