09/23/26 07:01:00
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09/23 18:59 CDT ICE detained Kentucky State basketball player from Senegal as
she prepared to travel to tournament
ICE detained Kentucky State basketball player from Senegal as she prepared to
travel to tournament
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --- A Kentucky State University women's basketball player
from Senegal was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month
when she arrived at the airport in Louisville to fly to New York for a
tournament.
Aminata Seck, 26, is from Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and her attorney said
on social media that she entered the United States on a student visa.
Her attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds, wrote that Seck was detained on Aug. 7 at
Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport, as she was planning to travel
with her team to an HBCU tournament.
The Louisville Courier Journal, which first reported Seck's arrest, wrote that
Reynolds said Seck may have missed a student visa deadline because she was
having back surgery, and that she also has an ACL injury.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Seck legally
entered the U.S. in September 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.
DHS said that Seck was wearing a leg brace for a knee injury when she was
arrested, and is receiving treatment at a hospital.
Reynolds wrote that she spoke to Seck last week, and the player said she
remained in a lot of pain. Reynolds said she was transferred to multiple
detention facilities before being sent to the hospital.
Seck remains listed on the Grayson County, Kentucky, Detention Center's online
inmate roster. The offense description says: "US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND
SECURITY / ICE."
Democratic U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents a district including
Louisville, said he is monitoring Seck's situation, and that of others who have
been arrested and detained in Kentucky.
"Aminata is a student-athlete who was arrested by ICE at the airport while
traveling with her teammates," he wrote in a statement. "The Trump
administration's cruelty knows no bounds, but we will never let this become
normal and we won't stop fighting for her."
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. Seck, a 6-foot-4 center, had five double-doubles last season
and scored a season-high 30 points vs. Lane College on Jan. 14.
Seck also was named the SIAC Women's Basketball Elite 16 award winner. The
Elite 16 award is the SIAC's highest academic achievement honor and is
presented to student-athletes who demonstrate exemplary performance in
athletics and the classroom.
The school declined to comment: "Out of respect for the privacy of those
involved, Kentucky State University does not have information to share."
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