Kim, 40, was detained by Customs and Border Protection on July 21 at San Francisco International Airport upon returning from his brother's wedding in South Korea. The Korean-born scientist, who has lived in the United States since age 5, was initially held without legal access for more than a week at the airport before being transferred to ICE detention facilities, first in Arizona and later in Texas.
Kim is currently a Ph.D. student in biomedical sciences at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where he researches potential Lyme disease vaccines.
CBP officials indicated Kim's detention stems from a 2011 minor marijuana possession charge in Texas, despite the offense being sealed from public records after Kim completed community service.
"The Trump administration’s actions with regard to Mr. Kim and others have had reverberating impacts across campuses," the AAUP said in a statement. "Since at least February 2025, not only have international students struggled to obtain visas, but many have not applied or declined acceptance because of fears stoked both by the government’s ideological deportation policy and by the seemingly arbitrary detention of students like Mr. Kim. The long-term impacts of these trends on the vitality of higher education in the US cannot be understated."
