Sumith Gunasekera #
Introduction #
Sumith Gunasekera, a Sri Lankan national and Associate Professor of Marketing at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, was arrested by ICE Detroit on November 12, 2025, over what federal officials described as a long-running immigration history spanning the United States and Canada, and was fired by the university for misconduct on December 11, 2025. The two threads of his case are distinct: the immigration enforcement side rests on U.S. government statements about his record, while his dismissal turned on a university disciplinary finding that he had provided “false or misleading information” on his employment application â a hearing he did not attend.
Background Information #
According to ICE, Gunasekera first entered the United States in February 1998, moved to Canada, and returned later that year on a student visa. The agency said his Canadian record surfaced in 2012, when he applied for a change of status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and was found to have prior convictions in Canada that it said made him ineligible for legal status in the United States.
The criminal record described in U.S. government statements spans Canada and the United States: according to ICE, Gunasekera was arrested in Brampton, Ontario, on August 28, 1998, for uttering death threats and again three days later for invitation to sexual touching and sexual interference involving a minor, and was convicted in Brampton on November 12, 1998, of uttering death threats and sexual interference, receiving one month in jail and one year of probation. The same account lists a September 25, 2003, arrest in Las Vegas for open and gross lewdness and a January 16, 2004, conviction there for disorderly conduct, with a fine. None of these entries has been independently verified against Canadian court records; they appear here as reported in ICE’s statements.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #
Allegations and attributed findings. The Canadian convictions described here are reported in U.S. government statements fetched for this page and were not independently verified against Canadian court records; the university firing rests on Ferris State’s own disciplinary finding. Gunasekera’s removal case is a civil immigration proceeding, not a criminal trial.
The enforcement action began on November 12, 2025, when ICE Detroit arrested Gunasekera in the Detroit area and placed him in federal custody as the agency moved to pursue removal proceedings. DHS publicized the arrest on November 25, 2025, under the headline “ICE Detroit Arrests Criminal Illegal Alien with History of Sex Crimes Working as College Professor,” and local reporting that day noted that ICE claimed its officers had arrested a “criminal illegal alien sex offender from Sri Lanka.”
Ferris State’s response moved on a separate, employment track. On November 25, 2025 â the same day DHS publicized the arrest â the university placed Gunasekera on administrative leave. “Ferris State University leaders on Tuesday became aware of accusations regarding professor Sumith Gunasekera. He has been placed on administrative leave while the university gathers more information,” FSU Associate Vice President for Marketing and Communications Dave Murray said. “This is a personnel issue and it would be inappropriate for the university to further discuss the matter.”
The dismissal came on December 11, 2025, after an internal investigation and a university hearing that Gunasekera did not attend. The hearing found he had provided “false or misleading information” on his employment application regarding his background and status, and the university terminated him for misconduct. The firing therefore rests on Ferris State’s own disciplinary finding about application falsehoods â not on the Canadian record described in the government’s statements.
Public Reaction and Consequences #
Federal officials framed the case as both an immigration enforcement action and a campus safety issue. “Itâs 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. Thanks to the brave ICE law enforcement officers, this sicko is behind bars and no longer able to prey on Americans,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary.
An official ICE statement in the DHS release said: “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.”
Ferris State, for its part, emphasized that “student safety is our top priority,” DHS said, as the university moved to terminate his employment. The department’s account did not detail what Ferris State’s hiring process uncovered at the time, how the university evaluated his disclosures, the scope of his teaching duties, or the length of his employment. DHS did not identify any attorneys or representatives for Gunasekera, and its statements included no response from him to the allegations about his immigration history or the university’s findings.
Current Status #
Gunasekera remains in ICE custody at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, pending further immigration proceedings and potential removal to Sri Lanka, according to DHS. His removal case is a civil immigration proceeding, not a criminal trial. Ferris State, a public university in Big Rapids, is left to manage the aftermath of a high-profile arrest of a faculty member while immigration authorities continue to hold him in detention.
Impact on Their Career/Life #
The firing ended Gunasekera’s role as Associate Professor of Marketing at Ferris State, a post he held until December 11, 2025, when the university terminated him for misconduct following the hearing he did not attend. Rather than returning to the classroom, he remains in federal detention in Michigan, and the outcome of his case will be decided in immigration court as removal proceedings move toward a potential return to Sri Lanka.