The case has drawn campus concern because the university says Kibret has valid work authorization, while DHS says he overstayed a visa. It also comes as advocates point to increased immigration arrests involving airport travel.
ICE detained a University of Maryland instructor at Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas on July 21 after he had recently received a teacher-of-the-year award, according to the university and the Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Berhanu Kibret, an instructor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in the University of Maryland, Baltimore community, was returning from an American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy meeting when he was arrested. The article explains why he was detained: DHS says he overstayed a visa, while the university says he has valid work authorization and wants his status issue resolved.
The case matters because the two public accounts do not answer the same question. DHS is focused on Kibret’s visa history. The university is focused on his authorization to work and his role on campus.
The airport arrest
Kibret was arrested at Dallas-Fort Worth airport after attending a job-related conference in Dallas, the University of Maryland said in a statement reported by CBS Baltimore. The trip was tied to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, where the university said he received a Teacher of the Year award.
That detail is why the case traveled quickly beyond a routine immigration enforcement item. The person detained was not described by his employer as a marginal figure or a stranger to the institution. He was a faculty instructor returning from a professional gathering where his teaching had just been recognized.
The university said it was “greatly troubled” by the arrest and described Kibret as a “highly valued member” of the University of Maryland, Baltimore community. It also said his detention had created sympathy and “a heightened sense of apprehension” on campus.
Two status claims collide
The sharpest unresolved issue is the gap between the university’s statement and DHS’s statement. The University of Maryland said Kibret has “valid Work Authorization” and expressed hope that “any issues surrounding his status” would be resolved quickly so he could continue working at the School of Pharmacy.
DHS confirmed the arrest to CBS Baltimore and gave a different framing. The department said ICE arrested Berhanu Geresu Kibret, whom it identified as being from Ethiopia, on July 21. DHS said he entered the United States on June 21, 2021, on a visa set to expire on May 31, 2024, and alleged that he overstayed that visa and failed to depart.
Those claims can sound contradictory to readers, but the public statements leave the legal mechanics unclear. DHS did not, in the reported statement, explain how it evaluated Kibret’s work authorization. The university did not publicly detail the type of work authorization it says he holds or how it relates to the visa issue cited by DHS.
DHS said Kibret would remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings. That means the next meaningful answers may come not from university statements, but from the immigration process itself.
How DHS framed detention
DHS’s statement did more than confirm the arrest. It used the case to repeat the administration’s broader self-deportation message, saying, “Being in detention is a choice,” and encouraging people it described as unlawfully present to use the CBP Home App.
The department also said the United States was offering $2,600 and a free flight for people to self-deport, according to the CBS Baltimore report. That language shows how the agency is positioning detention not only as case-by-case enforcement, but as pressure meant to push voluntary departure.
For Kibret’s supporters, the framing is likely to deepen the unease. The university’s statement centers his teaching record, professional standing and work authorization. DHS’s statement centers visa expiration, custody and departure.
Both can be true in parts, but the public record so far does not resolve the central question: whether Kibret has a pathway, pending application or other legal basis that could affect his detention or ability to remain in the United States.
Why the university is alarmed
Kibret joined the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy faculty in 2023, according to the university statement cited by CBS Baltimore. Before that, he worked at William Paterson University as a postdoctoral researcher.
His research has focused on addiction, including cannabinoid receptors and the behavioral effects of drugs of abuse, the university said. That profile helps explain the campus reaction: the arrest involves someone embedded in teaching and research, not just a traveler passing through an airport.
The university’s concern also points to a practical fear for higher education. Universities often depend on international scholars, researchers and instructors whose immigration paperwork can involve multiple agencies, deadlines and categories. When enforcement happens suddenly at an airport, campuses can be left trying to understand what document or status issue triggered it.
Still, the university has not said that DHS’s visa dates are wrong. It has said Kibret has valid work authorization and that it hopes the status questions are resolved. That distinction matters.
Airports draw new scrutiny
Kibret’s arrest was not the only recent airport detention involving a Maryland academic community. CBS Baltimore also reported that Fatima Ameaka, a Johns Hopkins University researcher from Cameroon, was detained by federal immigration officers on July 28 while boarding a domestic flight at Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport.
Ameaka was later released from a Texas detention facility, and her attorney told CBS Baltimore she had returned to Maryland. The two cases are not identical based on the public reporting, but together they have raised questions about airport travel as a point of immigration enforcement.
Kelly Rojas of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights told CBS Baltimore that the group is seeing what it considers an alarming pattern of immigration arrests at U.S. airports. CBS Baltimore also reported, citing ICE sources, that the Trump administration has increased airport enforcement through collaboration involving TSA and ICE, with TSA providing tips and leads about noncitizen travelers.
That account has not been fully detailed in public. What remains unclear is how travelers are flagged, what information is shared, and how much discretion officers have when someone presents documentation or says they have pending immigration relief.
What happens next
For now, the official outcome is limited: DHS says Kibret remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings. The university says it wants him allowed to continue his work at the School of Pharmacy.
The next steps could include custody decisions, immigration court scheduling, filings by Kibret or his attorney, and any university support that can be offered within legal limits. None of those details has been fully laid out in the public reports.
The case has become a flashpoint because it sits at the intersection of immigration enforcement, higher education and airport security. DHS sees a visa overstay. The university sees a valued instructor with work authorization and an unresolved status issue.
Until the immigration record is clarified, the public is left with a striking contrast: a Teacher of the Year honoree returning from a professional conference, and a federal agency saying he should remain detained while his immigration case proceeds.
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