A medical doctor from Turkey who now works as a researcher at Upstate Medical University was detained on a trip to Niagara Falls and is now being held by immigration officials in the Batavia federal detention facility. 

Ibrahim Topkaya, 33, was on a trip to Niagara Falls, N.Y., with his mother on Sept. 6. His mother was visiting from Turkey for the first time in three years. 

“On the way back, there was a lot of traffic, so the GPS shifted him towards the Canadian border as a faster route,” said Omar Alsafadi, a friend of Topkaya.

After making the turn, Alsafadi said the Canadian border patrol officials gave Topkaya a document stating he did not enter the country, that he was just turning around.

“As he went to the U.S. border, he provided that paperwork and I guess that wasn’t enough for them. From there, they detained him,” Alsafadi said. 

Topkaya works in the bioengineering lab to advance diabetes research, according to a recent article from Upstate Medical University. He is named as an author in numerous medical research papers.

“He was a medical doctor over in Turkey and then he’s continuing his research here in the United States,” Alsafadi said. “He’s a very well-respected researcher here,” Alsafadi said. “He spends all of his time in the research lab. I know his higher up was telling him, ‘Hey you got to get out of the lab and enjoy life.’” 

Alsafadi said he even requested research materials to continue his work while in detention. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security shared the following statement with Spectrum News 1 regarding Topkaya’s detention. 

“On September 6, CBP encountered Ibrahim Halil Topkaya, an illegal alien from Turkey, at the Lewiston Bridge in Lewiston, New York. CBP transferred Topkaya over to ICE custody, where he will remain pending removal proceedings and will receive due process. On June 22, 2023, Topkaya legally entered the country, but chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws. To be clear: a pending application or work authorization does NOT confer legal status in the United States,” the statement said. 

However, Alsafadi said Topkaya had an approved asylum case, an active work authorization and a Social Security number, all of which he shared with Spectrum News 1. 

DHS didn’t immediately return a request for comment seeking clarification about his legal status when asked about his Social Security number, work authorization and approved asylum case.  

The Trump administration has said it will detain and deport the “worst of the worst,” but Alsafadi said that Topkaya is not that. 

“It makes you scratch your head for sure. I don’t know what the process of how they determine that stuff and I think it is definitely on the wrong side with Brahim specifically. It’s a very unfortunate situation,” Alsafadi said. 

According to data from the Deportation Project, a nonprofit that requests data from the federal government about arrests, detentions and deportations, there were 1,567 arrests made in the month of July in New York, the highest number of arrests from the data available which goes back to October of 2022. The data also shows that the majority of people arrested by immigration agents do not have any criminal charges. 

Alsafadi said Topkaya’s mother is distraught and extended her trip in the U.S. while they wait to see what can be done for her son.  

“She hasn’t eaten. I’m trying to comfort her and make sure that she knows, everything is going to work out,” Alsafadi said. “She has just been inside talking to him as much as she can on the phone.” 

While the situation is difficult, Topkaya has tried to remain positive, Alsafadi said. 

“He’s trying to stay positive. He wants to keep his mind going. Like I said, he wants us to send some more of the research articles so that he can keep studying and keep up to speed with the research that’s going on,” he said.