Episcopal priest’s daughter released from ICE detention

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, August 08, 2025U.S. federal agents working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain immigrants and asylum seekers reporting for immigration court proceedings at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building’s U.S. Immigration Court in New York, New York, Thursday, July 24, 2025. | DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)A South Korean student and daughter of an Episcopal priest has been released after being detained by federal officials last Thursday over what her family believes was a mistake. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintains, however, that the student was in the country on an expired visa.Yeonsoo Go, a 20-year-old student at Purdue University’s College of Pharmacy, reunited with her family and faith community in Manhattan following her release, according to a statement from the Episcopal Diocese of New York, where her mother serves as a priest.  “Soo has been released in New York City and is reunited with her beloved mother, Rev. Kyrie Kim. May their time ahead be safe and peaceful,” the diocese wrote. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, told The Christian Post in a statement that Go overstayed her visa by two years, a claim her attorney contests. McLaughlin did not address what prompted Go’s release from custody. “The facts haven’t changed: Yeonsoo Go, an illegal alien from South Korea, overstayed her visa that expired more than two years ago,” McLaughlin stated. “President [Donald] 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.” McLaughlin highlighted the Trump administration’s offer of a free flight and $1,000 to people who self-deport through the CBP Home application, adding that those who leave now will have the option of legally returning to the United States. “The fact of the matter is those who are in our country illegally have a choice — they can leave the country voluntarily or be arrested and deported,” she added. “The choice is theirs.”Immigration authorities detained Go on July 31, her attorney and family told The Associated Press. Authorities then transferred the university student to a detention facility in Monroe, Louisiana, where she remained until her release on Monday. A spokesperson for the DHS told AP that Go was placed in “expedited removal proceedings.” Mary Rothwell Davis, an attorney for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, contends that Go has maintained a valid visa since coming to the United States in 2021 with her mother. Go’s family did not receive an explanation for the student’s arrest and eventual release, Davis said. “We don’t know why it happened, but we’re very happy that it did,” Davis said. “We were moving Heaven and earth to make it known that we thought this was a mistake.””Whether it was our outcry or some other factor that persuaded DHS to send her home, we don’t know, but we’re so grateful,” Davis added, describing Go’s experience in detention as “unbelievably traumatic.”Following Go’s detainment, the Episcopal Diocese of New York hosted a public vigil Saturday in collaboration with the Interfaith Center of New York and the New York Immigration Coalition. In a Friday Facebook post announcing the event, the diocese called on “faith leaders and people of moral conscience” to come pray and call for an end to what it referred to as “unjust detention practices.”The diocese claimed that Go was taken into custody after she attended a routine visa hearing, where a judge had scheduled her next court appearance for October. “Her detention represents a disturbing and unacceptable escalation of enforcement against individuals in good standing with pending immigration cases,” the Episcopal Diocese of New York asserted.Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman