A professor with a criminal record was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. University officials won’t say much more than that he’s been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
The arrest was made after Sri Lankan national Sumith Gunasekera entered the U.S. from Canada with a criminal history, including uttering death threats, invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference with a minor, gross lewdness and disorderly conduct, authorities allege.
ICE Detroit officers arrested Gunasekera on Nov. 12, U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced. Gunasekera is an associate professor at Ferris State University’s College of Business, Marketing, in Big Rapids, Michigan.
His criminal history and entry into the U.S. began in 1998, raising questions about the federal agency responsible for vetting foreign nationals applying for student, work and other visas, ICE said.
He first entered the U.S. in February 1998 before his criminal history began, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) records.
By August 28, 1998, Gunasekera was arrested by Peel Regional Police in Brampton, Ontario, for uttering death threats, DHS said. Three days later, he was arrested again for invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference, admitting to officers the offense concerned a minor, DHS said.
Two months later, on Nov. 12, 1998, Gunasekera was convicted in criminal court in Brampton, Ontario, for uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and sexual interference, for which he was sentenced to prison and probation, DHS said.
He then returned to the U.S. on a student visa; his criminal history wasn’t flagged, which would have prevented entry.
It wouldn’t be until 2012 that USCIS discovered his criminal history when he applied for a change of status, yet he still wasn’t deported.
“Over the years, Gunasekera repeatedly attempted to manipulate our immigration system between applications, denials, and appeals despite the convictions in Canada that made him ineligible for legal status in the United States,” DHS said.
While living in the U.S., Gunasekera was arrested on Sept. 25, 2003, by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on open and gross lewdness charges. On Jan. 16, 2004, he was convicted in Las Vegas Justice Court of disorderly conduct and sentenced with fines.
Despite this criminal history, while employed at Ferris State University, Gunasekera acted as a “faculty mentor” for business students studying Parkinson’s and data science and analytics, according to the university.
“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,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “Thanks to the brave ICE law enforcement officers, this sicko is behind bars and no longer able to prey on Americans. His days of exploiting the immigration system are OVER. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminals are not welcome in the U.S.”
Gunasekera remains in ICE custody.
Ferris State University leaders only became aware of Gunasekera’s arrest after ICE’s announcement last week, Dave Murray, who handles public relations for the university, told The Center Square on Monday. Once they “became aware of accusations regarding Professor Sumith Gunasekera,” last Tuesday, he was placed on administrative leave “while the university gathers more information,” Murray said.
Other questions weren’t addressed, including if Ferris University officials were aware of Gunasekera’s conviction in Canada prior to being hired, clarification on what the university’s policy was about hiring convicted child sex offenders, what background checks are performed on staff applicants, including reviewing records from other countries and states, if they were aware of his 2004 conviction in Las Vegas, among other questions.
“This is a personnel issue, and it would be inappropriate for the university to further discuss the matter,” Murray said.
Gunasekera isn’t the only academic to be recently arrested by ICE. In September, ICE arrested a Des Moines Public School System superintendent and Guyanan national who’d been living in the U.S. illegally without federal work authorization and had an extensive criminal history dating to 1996, The Center Square reported.
His criminal history began with “criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell, criminal possession of narcotics, criminal possession of a forgery instrument and possession of a forged instrument” in New York, ICE said. Despite this, he wasn’t deported and was hired by the D.C. Public Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools and Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania and DMPS in Iowa. His first conviction was in 2012 for reckless driving, his second 10 years later on weapons charges.
Under the Trump administration, USCIS is reviewing visa policies and processes to address waste, fraud and abuse of federal benefits, extensive visa fraud and other types of fraud, and ensure only U.S. citizens are voting.
