An asylum seeker who was held in the Broome County jail for almost five months is scheduled to be released from federal custody Tuesday.
Guan Heng waited over four years to have his asylum application heard in a United States immigration court. He fled China in 2021 after filming Uyghur detention centers in the far western region of Xiajiang. Uyghurs are a Muslim minority who live in a far western region of China.
He was granted asylum last Wednesday. On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers removed him from the Broome County jail. He was taken to the federal immigration detention center in Batavia near Buffalo.
His attorney told WSKG that Guan was scheduled to be released from federal custody some time on Tuesday.
Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security still have until Feb. 27 to appeal his asylum status.
In his asylum hearing testimony last week, Guan said he first went to Ecuador then The Bahamas. There he bought an inflatable boat and set off for the United States.
Once in the U.S. he applied for asylum and was granted a work permit. Four years later he was still waiting for his asylum request to be heard when he was detained by ICE officials.
The U.S. State Department has accused the Chinese government of commiting crimes against humanity and an ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people.
