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.”
