Maryland professor detained by ICE in Texas after winning ‘Teacher of the Year’ award

Berhanu Kibret was detained at an airport in Texas while traveling to the state for a conference where he received the honor. 

A University of Maryland, Baltimore professor remains in Immigration Customs Enforcement custody three weeks after an arrest, his attorneys say was illegal. 

Berhanu Kibret, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, was traveling in Texas for a national conference where he was honored with the “Teacher of the Year” award, when he was arrested on July 21 at an airport in the Lone Star State. In a statement, officials at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, said Kibret, originally from Ethiopia, is “an effective and beloved teacher, and a highly regarded colleague,” according to WBALTV.

“Dr. Kibret has a valid work authorization, so it is our hope that any issues surrounding his status will be quickly resolved and that he will be permitted to continue his work at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.”

Kibret, who was detained by ICE while attending the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, focuses his research on addiction. His work examines how the brain’s cannabinoid system influences mental health, neurological disease, and the effects of addictive drugs, according to the university’s website. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees as well as a PhD in Ethiopia before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey.

In a statement to the Guardian, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE arrested Kibret after he entered the United States on June 21, 2021, on a visa that would expire on May 31, 2024.

He is being held at Diamondback Correctional Facility in Watonga, Oklahoma, more than 250 miles from the airport, where he will remain until his pending immigration proceedings. His arrest is drawing attention in Maryland as it arrived just weeks before a professor at Johns Hopkins University, Fatima Ameaka, was also detained at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport over an alleged visa overstay. She has since been released.

Before Kibret’s arrest and shortly after he received the honor of “Teacher of The Year,” during the conference, the academic, per the Baltimore Banner, posted about the experience on his LinkedIn Page.

“Grateful for the opportunity to learn, share, and contribute to the future of pharmacy education,” he wrote.