A Tibetan monk who is resident lama at a Broward Buddhist center was detained at Miami International Airport Sunday by federal authorities who intend to deport him.
Geshe Konchog Kyab was to stay at the airport until he could be put on a flight out of the country, said Barbara Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection.
”He doesn’t have the appropriate visa to enter the country,” Gonzalez said. “He’s going to go back.”
”That doesn’t seem possible,” said Viviana Caravallo, a member of the Tubten Kunga Buddhist Center, a small storefront temple in Deerfield Beach. A group from the center went to the airport to greet Kyab.
”There may be some confusion, because he had a valid visa when he left. If he needed a new visa, we’re not aware of that,” Caravallo said.
Gonzalez said that was not the case.
”He had received a notice of approval but it also says on that notice that you need to get the visa, so he doesn’t have a visa,” Gonzalez said.
Kyab, a native of India, arrived on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, after starting out in New Delhi, about 2:15 p.m.
