MILLCREEK, Utah — Detained by ICE in mid-August. violinist John Shin spoke to the media for the first time on Friday, one day after returning home, and described his experience as dehumanizing.
“I was in constant panic a little bit every night. I wasn't sure what was going to happen tomorrow or the following day," Shin said.
Shin said the day he was arrested, he was in Colorado for work when Department of Homeland Security agents met him at his hotel, and after a 20-minute interrogation, he was detained due to an impaired driver conviction from 2020, which he received shortly after his father passed away.
When taken into custody, already completed probation for that conviction.
“The special agents gave me a three-minute phone call. It was very short phone call to my wife, and it was one of the worst moments in my life to hear my wife cry on her birthday,” Shin explained. "I said, 'Happy Birthday, honey,' I have some bad news. I'm being detained right now.”
Raw video below shows Shin being released from ICE detention:
His wife, DaNae Snow, was shocked on the other end of the phone.
“I didn't know if he was safe, I didn't know if he was being hurt, I didn't know if he was suffering, and it was truly, truly a terrifying moment in my life,” she said through tears, sitting next to her husband.
On the way to the detention facility, Shin was shackled on both his wrists and ankles.
“I never thought I would have to feel what it's like to be shackled on my ankles and my wrists, feeling like some kind of a serious criminal,” he shared.
During his time in detention, Shin slept on a tiny mattress with no pillow, overhearing arguments and racist remarks. However, hearing the amount of support he was getting in Utah is what kept him going.
“Just when I thought there were no options and I might have to give up, there was hope again," he said, "and I don't know how to thank my musician friends."
Watch John Shin's full news conference below:
According to attorney Adam Crayk, Shin came to the country under his father’s student visa, married a U.S. citizen, and, for reasons that were beyond his control, was unable to file for a green card right away. Crayk said these situations are happening more and more.
“With the current administration's mass deportation efforts, there are quotas. There are requirements that every single day X amount of people have to be taken into custody,” Crayk claimed, "and John was a really, really easy, low-hanging fruit.”
While Shin was born in Korea, he said they were always in the process of trying to get a green card, because he believes America is his home.
“It's been so difficult for me to identify myself as either nationality, sometimes, because I don't know where I belong," he admitted while becoming emotional. "But you know, for my entire life living in the United States, I always thought I was American. Living here, this is where all my memories are."
Before being released, Shin was fitted with an ankle monitor after the government argued he was still a danger to the public because of the impaired driving conviction. His team expects it will stay on for at least a couple of months.
Crayk said they are still in court proceedings, and they are working to get Shin his green card and a permit so he can return to work.
