ICE Detains Maryland Instructor Berhanu Kibret Over 2024 Visa Expiry at Texas Airport
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 4
ICE Detains Maryland Instructor Berhanu Kibret Over 2024 Visa Expiry at Texas Airport
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 4
Summary
Berhanu Kibret, a University of Maryland, Baltimore pharmacy instructor, was detained by ICE at Dallas-Fort Worth airport while returning from a professional meeting where he had just received a teacher-of-the-year award.
DHS said Kibret entered the US on June 21, 2021, on a visa that expired on May 31, 2024, and will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.
The university said Kibret has valid work authorization and called him a highly valued, beloved teacher, adding that his detention has stirred apprehension across campus.
Kibret’s case adds to criticism of Trump-era immigration enforcement because it targets academics without criminal convictions, despite repeated pledges to focus on the “worst of the worst” offenders.
A Guardian analysis found 77% of people newly placed in deportation proceedings after Trump’s 2025 return had no criminal convictions; last month ICE also detained, then released, a Johns Hopkins researcher in Maryland.