Immigration agents arrested an illegal migrant sex offender employed as a professor at a major American university on Nov. 12.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Sri Lankan national Sumith Gunasekera in Detroit, Michigan, the agency confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Gunasekera, previously arrested in Canada and the U.S. for various crimes, worked as a professor of data science and analytics at Ferris State University, a public institution in Big Rapids, Michigan.
“It’s sickening that a sex offender was working as a professor on an American college campus and was given access to vulnerable students to potentially victimize them,” Department of Homeland (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a Tuesday statement obtained by the DCNF.
“Thanks to the brave ICE law enforcement officers this sicko is behind bars and no longer able to prey on Americans,” McLaughlin continued. “His days of exploiting the immigration system are OVER.”
In 1998, local law enforcement in Ontario, Canada, arrested Gunasekera for allegedly uttering death threats. Several days later, police arrested him again for charges related to sexual touching and sexual interference. Gunasekera later admitted these charges related to a minor, according to DHS. A criminal court in Ontario later convicted the Sri Lankan national and sentenced him to one month incarceration and one year of probation.
The Metropolitan Police Department in Las Vegas arrested Gunasekera in September 2003 for open and gross lewdness and in January 2004, a Las Vegas court convicted him of disorderly conduct, according to DHS.
The illegal migrant entered the U.S. in February 1998, left for Canada, and then returned stateside later that year on a student visa, per ICE’s record of his immigration history. Gunasekera applied for a change of status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2012, ultimately leading immigration officials to discover that he had been convicted of crimes in Canada.
A DHS press release says Gunasekera “repeatedly attempted to manipulate our immigration system between applications, denials and appeals despite the convictions in Canada that make him ineligible for legal status in the United States.” The illegal migrant remains in the agency’s custody pending his immigration proceedings.
“Ferris State University leaders today became aware of accusations regarding professor Sumith Gunasekera. He has been placed on administrative leave while the university gathers more information,” Dave Murray, a spokesman for the university, said to the DCNF.
“This is a personnel issue and it would be inappropriate for the university to further discuss the matter,” Murray added.
This is not the first bust of an illegal migrant employed in the U.S. education system and accused of attempting to deceive immigration authorities.
ICE agents arrested Ian Andre Roberts, a Guyanese national living unlawfully in the U.S. who was paid a six-figure salary as the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, in September. At the time of Roberts’ apprehension, agents found him in possession of a loaded handgun, a fixed blade hunting knife and $3,000 in cash. The school system later blamed a consulting firm for his employment.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminals are not welcome in the U.S.” McLaughlin said.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a response from Ferris State University.
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