Kentucky State basketball player held by ICE since early August
Aminata Seck, a Senegalese senior on Kentucky State's women's basketball team, has been moved between four immigration facilities since her detention at a Louisville airport, according to Guardian US Sport.
Aminata Seck, a senior guard for Division II Kentucky State's women's basketball team, has been in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 7 August, according to reporting by Guardian US Sport.
The Senegalese player was detained at Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport while travelling to attend the HBCU All-Star game in New York, the outlet reported. News of her detention only became public this week.
Seck started 20 of 26 games for Kentucky State last season, earning third-team all-conference honours as well as an SIAC Elite 16 award recognising her academic performance, per Guardian US Sport.
Sadiqa Reynolds, a lawyer involved in the case, told the outlet that Seck's detention stemmed from a missed student visa deadline, which Reynolds described as "a paperwork situation" caused by Seck undergoing back surgery.
Since her initial apprehension, Seck has been transferred through four separate ICE facilities: Clay County, Chicago, Clark County and Grayson County, according to Reynolds' account relayed to Guardian US Sport.
Reynolds also said Seck has an ACL injury and has received only ibuprofen while in custody, with no proper medical treatment provided, the outlet reported.
Guardian US Sport noted that ICE arrests in Kentucky have risen by 70% this year, a figure the writers cited as context for the case.
The report, authored by academics Nathan Kalman-Lamb, Simran Kaur Sethi and Derek Silva, frames Seck's detention as exposing the precarious position of international college athletes, who are recruited by universities but can lose institutional support once their immigration status becomes uncertain.
No further updates on Seck's status or any response from the NCAA or Kentucky State were included in the reporting.