William Midubo, a full-time engineer for the city of Oregon, is free — a day after federal immigration officers detained him at the Seattle airport on his way to a friend’s wedding.

Midubo was released Friday after his brother posted a $7,500 bond and $2,200 in court fees, Law Director Chynna Fifer said.

Midubo has worked for Oregon since 2022, and the city says he was allowed to be where he was. Fifer said Oregon holds his work authorization and that it runs to 2030. “He is authorized to work in the United States,” she said.

While he was still being held, Fifer wrote to Gov. Mike DeWine, calling Midubo “a valued employee of the city” and asking the governor to review the detention quickly and back his release, or any other outcome that would let him come back to work.

Midubo is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He studied at the University of Toledo and interned for Oregon before the city hired him full time. His brother, Elie Midubo, said officers took his phone at the airport and did not let him call a lawyer. “They didn’t even give him a chance,” he said.

No criminal charge has been reported against him, and ICE has not said publicly why it detained him.

Sources: 13abc, which obtained the city’s Nov. 13 letter to the governor; The Blade for the release, the bond and the court fees; Lake Erie Inquiry. ICE has not commented publicly.

Alaska Airlines planes at Sea-Tac Airport, photo by SounderBruce via Wikimedia Commons.