Paul Jack Cobby Essel, 51, a grants accounting manager at Missouri State University and a native of Ghana, was arrested by ICE off campus in Springfield around 1:20 p.m. on Oct. 7, 2026, and booked into the Greene County Jail, where he is being held without bond. Essel entered the U.S. legally on a student visa in 2003, earned two graduate degrees at MSU between 2008 and 2014, and has worked at the university since 2010, serving as grants accounting manager since 2019. His removal order stems from a 2015 immigration judge ruling that his first marriage to a U.S. citizen was fraudulent; he remarried a U.S. citizen weeks later, and though her 2018 petition on his behalf was approved, subsequent motions to reopen his case were denied, including by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2023. Essel has no criminal record aside from two minor driving offenses, is married with three children, and is an active member of the Springfield Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having recently offered a prayer at the groundbreaking for its new Springfield temple. Neighbors describe his family as 'humble, gracious, generous,' and Missouri State called him a 'valued, long-standing member' of the university community, placing him on paid administrative leave. A community petition titled 'Bring Paul Home' asks ICE to pause his deportation and allow him to remain with his family while his attorneys continue pursuing his case.