July 31, 2025
SEOUL – A Korean green-card holder and resident of Texas was detained by US federal agents at San Francisco International Airport and held for eight days without access to legal counsel, an advocacy group said Wednesday.
According to the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, Tae-heung Kim, 40, is a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University where he researches Lyme disease. He has lived in the US since the age of five, and was returning from South Korea after attending his brother’s wedding before being caught by federal agents.
The group said the US government has not disclosed the reason for Kim’s detention, and immigration officials have refused to allow him to speak with an attorney or communicate directly with his family, except for a brief call to his mother on Friday.
Kim, a legal permanent resident of the US, had a misdemeanor charge for possession of a small amount of marijuana in 2011, about 14 years ago. He was sentenced to community service, which he completed.
“The Trump administration continues to assault immigrants and undermine the constitution,” the group said in a statement. “Customs and Border Protection agents have arbitrarily held him in inhumane conditions for over a week, depriving him of access to legal counsel and preventing him from seeking his freedom or exercising his basic rights.”
Karl Krooth, Kim’s immigration lawyer, said it is appalling to see a lawful permanent resident detained for a week without access to counsel.
“While detained, CBP kept the lights on 24 hours a day, and Kim was not allowed to see daylight, as the only time he was near a window was at night,” Krooth said. “He was given no fluids other than water, ate only concession stand food and slept in a chair instead of a bed.”
