A Kentucky State University basketball player was pulled aside by federal immigration agents at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Aug. 7, arrested while traveling alongside her own teammates. Aminata Seck, 26, is a student-athlete at the historically Black university, and her case is now being coordinated by a Louisville attorney who says the arrest happened as Seck moved through the airport with her school's basketball team.
Lawyer Says Seck Was Taken From Airport With Her Team
Sadiqa Reynolds, the lawyer helping coordinate Seck's case, told the Courier-Journal that Seck was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Louisville airport while the team was traveling. The 26-year-old is enrolled at Kentucky State, and Reynolds is now working on her behalf, according to the same report. Beyond those details, the newspaper's account does not lay out the specific immigration allegations behind the arrest, and it remains unclear whether Seck is still in custody, has been released, or has had any court hearing since Aug. 7.
A Similar Case Unfolded Days Later in Connecticut
Seck's detention echoes another case that unfolded less than a month later and 700 miles away. ICE arrested Deng Deng, a Southern Connecticut State University basketball player from South Sudan, at Tweed New Haven Airport on Sept. 4, according to the New Haven Independent. Deng had been set to begin his freshman season with the university's men's basketball team, per a separate report from The Southern News, which also noted that a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the arrest and identified him by name on Sept. 8.
A DHS spokesperson said Deng “legally entered the U.S. and illegally overstayed” his authorized period, according to the New Haven Independent's reporting. Deng later filed a federal habeas corpus petition, and a judge ordered that he not be transferred to any ICE detention facility more than 150 miles from Connecticut's border, the outlet reported. ICE's online detainee locator listed him as being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Rhode Island.
Airport and City Officials Weigh In on Connecticut Arrest
The Connecticut case also drew comment from local officials. An Avports spokesperson said ICE agents had access to a Tweed parking area reserved for law enforcement, the New Haven Independent reported, while New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said city police “do not coordinate with ICE.” A Southern Connecticut State University spokesperson said the school was assisting a student who was “detained by immigration authorities over the holiday weekend while traveling off campus,” according to the same outlet's report.
Arrests Have Climbed Nationally in Recent Months
Both cases arrive amid a documented rise in ICE enforcement activity nationwide. According to a DHS release, ICE arrested 50,925 people across the country in August, surpassing a previous record of 50,208 arrests set in July. In a separate operation, ICE reported arresting more than 1,200 people in Georgia as part of a broader effort centered on the Washington, D.C. area, per the agency's own release. ICE has said it uses its detention resources to secure a person's presence for immigration proceedings or eventual removal from the country, according to the agency's detention management page.
What happens next for Seck remains unclear.
