A Sri Lankan–born university lecturer in the United States, Sumi Gunasekera, has been taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) due to past criminal convictions in Canada, which U.S. authorities say make him ineligible to remain in the country.
Gunasekera serves as the director of the Data Analytics Consulting and Research Center and is also listed as an assistant professor of marketing at the university, according to its official website.
DHS stated that Gunasekera “remains in ICE custody pending further immigration proceedings,” though his current location has not been disclosed.
The department noted that a criminal court in Brampton, Ontario, convicted Gunasekera in 1998 of “uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm” and “sexual interference,” for which he received a one-month jail sentence and one year of probation. The Ontario Court of Justice confirmed that the case is now archived.
U.S. authorities said these past convictions made Gunasekera ineligible for legal status in the country. A DHS spokesperson criticised his employment in academia, stating it was “sickening that a sex offender was working as a professor on an American college campus and was given access to vulnerable students.”
Gunasekera’s immigration case is now being processed by U.S. authorities, with no timeline provided for a final decision.
