Women’s basketball player from Senegal has deportation order rescinded after arrest by ICE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky State University women’s basketball player from Senegal, who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has been granted a motion by an immigration judge that reopens her immigration proceedings and rescinds a deportation order.

Aminata Seck is scheduled for a hearing on Nov. 26, giving her a chance to appear and argue her case. The motion was granted Wednesday.

“She will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a statement on Thursday.

Seck was detained on Aug. 7 at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport as she was planning to travel with her team to a tournament.

DHS said in a statement that Seck legally entered the United States in 2019, then “chose to overstay her welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.” The agency wrote that an immigration judge had ordered Seck removed a year ago after she failed to appear at an immigration hearing.

“The immigration judge specifically found that Aminata demonstrated that she did not receive notice of the prior proceedings,” her attorney, Hishem Alsalman, said Thursday.

The 26-year-old Seck is from Dakar, Senegal’s capital.

“We continue to maintain that her ongoing detention is unlawful and unnecessary, particularly now that the order underlying the government’s prior position has been rescinded,” Alsalman said.

Alsalman said Seck has had seizures while in custody and needs treatment for a torn knee ligament, adding she was scheduled for surgery before she was detained.

DHS said Seck was wearing a leg brace for a knee injury when she was arrested and is receiving treatment at a hospital.

Seck was named to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Conference Third Team last season after she led the team with 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds. The 6-foot-4 center had five double-doubles last season and scored a season-high 30 points against Lane College on Jan. 14.

Seck also was named the SIAC Women’s Basketball Elite 16 award winner. The award is the SIAC’s highest academic honor and is presented to student-athletes who demonstrate exemplary performance in sports and the classroom.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, a Democrat who represents a district including Louisville, has said he is monitoring Seck’s situation, and that of others who have been arrested and detained in Kentucky. The school has declined to comment.

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