Daughter of priest, 20, is arrested by ICE for overstaying her religious visa for two years
Yeonsoo Go, 20, who arrived in the US from South Korea in 2021 on an R-2 visa, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 31 outside the federal courthouse at Federal Plaza in Manhattan.
The move has ignited fury across faith communities, civil rights groups, and Korean American advocacy organizations.
Go's attorney insists her visa is active and valid through the end of this year, while the Department of Homeland Security says it expired more than two years ago.
'She was with her mother. She was heartbroken. And when she called me at night, later that day, she was breaking down,' said her boyfriend, Leo Chu to Fox 5. 'She was terrified. She didn't know what would happen next.'
Go, a graduate of Scarsdale High School in Westchester County, moved to America when she accompanied her mother, the Rev. Kyrie Kim, a trailblazing Episcopal priest and first woman ordained in the Seoul Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea, to New York under a dependent visa.
Her attorney and family say her stay was legally extended in 2023 and that she is lawfully enrolled at Purdue University. Her next court date had already been scheduled for October, but ICE agents were waiting outside the courtroom.
According to advocacy groups and church leaders, five plainclothes officers surrounded Go and detained her immediately after the judge adjourned her hearing.
No warrant was presented at the scene, and she was not given the opportunity to speak further with her attorney before being taken away.
'This is simply an incomprehensible situation,' her mother, Rev. Kim, told Yonhap News Agency.
'I've been active in protecting the rights of Korean immigrants through the New Sanctuary Coalition, but I never imagined that my own family would become a target.'
'She was supposed to return to school,' said boyfriend, Chu. 'Now we don't know what's going to happen.' The family have set up a GoFundMe to help with expenses.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security offered a starkly different version of events.
'Yeonsoo Go, an illegal alien from South Korea, overstayed her visa that expired more than two years ago,' DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
'President Trump and Secretary 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 US. ICE arrested her on July 31 and placed her in expedited removal proceedings.'
But her attorney and supporters say that assertion is false.
No warrant was presented at the scene, and Go was not given the opportunity to speak further with her attorney before being taken away
'She has a valid visa that expires in December 2025, and she has a pending application for extension,' said a legal representative for Go.
'The judge was satisfied enough to continue the case until October. There was no indication that she was to be taken into custody.'
Since her arrest, Go has been held in an ICE holding facility at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that clergy say is unfit for human confinement.
'Her mother receives regular calls from Yeonsoo, and she's being held at 26 Federal Plaza, which, as we know, is not a facility with showers, beds or hot meals,' said Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
'These detentions are not only illegal - they're immoral.'
Go's mother, devastated and unable to visit her daughter, said ICE told her Yeonsoo may be transferred to a separate detention facility, but refused to disclose when or where.
The incident has triggered an immediate wave of protests and condemnation from across the religious and immigrant rights landscape.
On Saturday, faith leaders, elected officials, and immigration advocates stood shoulder-to-shoulder outside the ICE building in lower Manhattan to demand her release.
'We call for the end of weaponization in our courts,' Bishop Heyd declared to a crowd of supporters and reporters. 'We stand up for a New York and a country that respects the dignity of every person.'
The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) joined the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Interfaith Center of New York to organize the press conference.
Posters demanding Go's release were plastered on the courthouse fence, alongside flowers and handwritten notes of support from local high school classmates.
'Her fears have come true,' said Gabriella Lopez, a friend of Go's. 'She's been nervous about this, especially given the climate. And now this is happening - to her, to her family. It's terrifying.'
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of NYIC, warned others with pending hearings to be vigilant.
'I think it's critically important that anyone who needs to go to an immigration court hearing call the New York State Office of New Americans and their hotline,' Awawdeh said.
'Make a family preparedness plan. If possible, work with a lawyer to set up a virtual hearing.'
Korean American community leaders say the episode is part of a disturbing trend of rising enforcement actions targeting Korean nationals regardless of their legal status.
Lee Myung-seok, president of the Korean American Association of Greater New York, called the arrest 'a clear violation of human rights' and vowed to file a formal letter requesting Go's immediate release.
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also stepped in, stating that its diplomatic missions in the U.S. are providing consular support to Go.
'We are engaging in necessary communication with the US side regarding this issue,' a ministry official told The Korea Times.
The case echoes the recent detention of Tae Heung Will Kim, a Korean green card holder and Texas resident who was taken into custody at San Francisco International Airport last month.
Kim, a Ph.D. student, was held at the airport for more than a week before being transferred to an ICE facility in Arizona.
His family has not received information about his condition or location.
As outrage builds, activists are demanding urgent federal oversight and accountability for what they say is a pattern of unjustified enforcement.
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