For the second time in as many weeks, a South Korean national legally residing in the United States has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities, raising alarms among religious leaders and immigrant advocates, who warn of a growing pattern of “chaotic and cruel” enforcement tactics.
The latest case involves Go Yeon-soo, a 20-year-old college student and daughter of an Episcopal priest, who was apprehended on July 31 by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moments after attending a routine immigration court appearance in Manhattan.
Go entered the U.S. in March 2021 on an R-2 visa, a dependent visa granted to the family members of religious workers. Since then, she has graduated from high school in New York and is currently enrolled at Purdue University. Her family and supporters say her legal status had been extended through the end of this year.
ICE agents intercepted her outside the courtroom just after she received a scheduling postponement in her ongoing visa renewal process. According to the Episcopal Diocese of New York and local immigrant rights groups, Go is now being held in temporary custody at an ICE facility in Manhattan and is expected to be transferred to a larger immigration detention center in the coming days.
While ICE has not publicly explained the rationale for her detention, legal observers believe it may reflect a growing enforcement practice: detaining immigrants without a warrant in or near public buildings such as immigration courts, which do not carry the same legal protections as private homes or designated sanctuaries. Under current federal guidelines, ICE agents do not need a judicial warrant to make arrests in public spaces.
Church leaders have denounced the incident as symptomatic of a broken immigration system. “We are gathered here not just to demand Yeon-soo’s release, but to call for an end to a system built on confusion and cruelty,” said Bishop Matthew Heyd of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, speaking at a press conference outside ICE’s Manhattan office on Aug. 2.
Another Episcopal priest, Marisa Sifontes, said Go’s case is not an isolated one. “We’re seeing the same thing over and over again—people go into court for asylum hearings or green card updates and don’t come back out,” she said. “Everyone deserves due process, but what we’re seeing is arbitrary detention without basic legal rights.”
Go’s case has drawn national attention. Local affiliate ABC7 New York reported on her arrest, describing it as the latest in a series of incidents in which immigrants are taken into custody minutes after completing routine court appointments. The broadcast noted that the case had sparked renewed protests and growing calls for federal agencies to end the practice.
She is not the only Korean national recently detained. Just last month, Tae-heung Kim, a 40-year-old researcher and legal permanent U.S. resident born in South Korea, was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport upon returning from a visit to Korea. He remains in detention, reportedly barred from contact with both his family and legal counsel after being pulled aside for additional security screening.
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