Yeonsoo Go, the 20-year-old daughter of local Episcopal priest Kyrie Kim, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents immediately following a routine visa hearing at Federal Plaza Immigration Court on Thursday, according to local news station ABC7 NY.
Newsweek has reached out to ICE via email on Sunday afternoon for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, with immigrants residing in the country both illegally and legally, including those with valid documentation such as green cards and visas, being detained.
The administration’s deportation plan has seen an intensification of ICE raids across the country as well as reports of people being arrested at immigration appointments.
What To Know
Go, a South Korean native and Scarsdale High School graduate, immigrated from Seoul with her mother on a religious visa roughly four years ago and was in the process of switching to a student visa. After finishing her freshman year at Purdue University, where she is studying to become a pharmacist, Go was back home in Scarsdale, Westchester County, with her mother for the summer.
However, conflicting accounts exist regarding her immigration status. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Go “overstayed her visa that expired more than two years ago” and was placed in expedited removal proceedings following her July 31 arrest.
Go’s lawyer said the 20-year-old was ordered to appear in court on Thursday for a procedural hearing on her visa renewal application, ABC7 NY reported. However, after being given a date in October to return from the judge, she was detained by ICE agents once she left the building.
A second woman, a 59-year-old named Ketty, a Peruvian asylum seeker, was also detained by federal agents as she left her routine asylum hearing the same day Go was.
Ketty had worked at her family’s successful bakery in Peru until “organized thugs” threatened them with violence and death if they didn’t pay a large sum of money, forcing them to flee the country, according to the New York Daily News. After crossing the border alone and arriving in New York three years ago, Ketty applied for asylum and followed all required procedures.
The two women are currently being held at 26 Federal Plaza, a facility that lacks basic amenities such as showers, beds, or hot food. Go has complained to her mother that agents “barely let her have her glasses” and hasn’t been given a change of clothes, the newspaper reported.
Both detentions sparked weekend protests, with approximately 75 faith leaders and advocates gathering outside 26 Federal Plaza on Saturday morning to demand their release.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement: “President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”
She added: “Those who are in our country illegally have a choice—they can leave the country voluntarily or be arrested and deported. The United States taxpayer is generously offering free flights and a $1,000 to illegal aliens who self-deport using the CBP Home app. If they leave now, they preserve the potential opportunity to come back the legal, right way. The choice is theirs.”
Episcopal Diocese of New York Reverend Matthew Heyd told ABC7 NY: “Her mother gets regular calls from Yeonsoo and she’s staying at 26 Federal Plaza, which, as we know, is not actually a facility that has showers or beds or hot food. And so the detentions here are not only illegal, but they’re immoral.”
New York Immigration Coalition President Murad Awawdeh told the New York Daily News: “They are showing up, following the rules of the letter of the law. And what is this telling people? That if you go to your court hearing, you may not make it out, but if you miss it, you definitely will be deported? This is not a system of justice. This is a system of injustice.”
What Happens Next?
Immigration advocates recommend that anyone with upcoming immigration court hearings contact the New York State Office of New Americans hotline, create a family preparedness plan, and work with lawyers to arrange virtual hearings when possible.
Community members continue to rally for both women’s release, while their cases proceed through the immigration system.