Oct. 1, 2026Updated Oct. 2, 2026, 12:54 a.m. ET
Aminata Seck, a women’s basketball player for Kentucky State University who is from Senegal, remains in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, but will have her immigration case reopened.
Memphis Immigration Court Judge Kelly Lake granted a motion on Wednesday, Sept. 30, to reopen Seck’s immigration proceedings. In granting the motion, the judge found that Seck had demonstrated that she did not receive the notice of removal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it served on Sept. 8, 2025.
Seck remains in ICE custody, her attorney Hishem Alsalman told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday, Oct. 1. Alsalman said that Seck is currently being held at the Grayson County Detention Center in Leitchfield, Kentucky, and is in solitary confinement because officials at the prison have “security concerns” with her knee brace being used as a weapon.
“She never did anything wrong,” Alsalman told USA TODAY Sports. “Her being in custody really hasn’t been good for her at all. She needs to have ACL surgery sooner rather than later.”
Seck, 26, was detained by ICE on Aug. 7 at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport before she was set to travel with Kentucky State’s women’s basketball team to New York. Alsalman, a Louisville-based immigration lawyer, has been working with Seck for about two weeks and communicating with her through another attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds.
The ruling by the judge in Memphis paves the way for Seck to present her case through the immigration process, and her petition for a writ of habeas corpus remains pending in federal court in the Western District of Kentucky. Seck’s appearance in immigration court is set for Nov. 20.
Alsalman said his next steps include filing a motion for a bond hearing.
“This ruling is an important step, but Aminata remains in ICE custody,” Alsalman said in a statement. “She has now been detained for nearly two months despite having no criminal history, significant family and community ties in the United States, and a record of pursuing her education and building her life here. During that detention, she has also experienced serious medical issues, including seizures that required hospitalization.
“We are hopeful that, particularly in light of the immigration court’s decision to reopen her proceedings and rescind the prior removal order, Aminata will soon be able to return to her family, her education and her community while her immigration case proceeds.”
Kentucky State women’s basketball player has been detained by ICE since August
Seck has now been detained by ICE for 55 days. According to Reynolds, Seck was dealing with an ACL injury and wearing a brace on her leg before she was taken into ICE custody, and had difficulty getting access to basic medical care such as ice for her knee. On Sept. 23, DHS said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports that Seck was “referred to the local hospital, where she is receiving treatment for knee pain.”
Despite not showing up in the database during the first several weeks of her detainment, Seck is now listed in ICE’s online detainee locator system.
In a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports on Sept. 23, DHS said Seck legally entered the country on Sept. 1, 2019, through Los Angeles on a temporary basis.
“She chose to overstay her welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” DHS said. “To be clear: a pending application or work authorization does not confer legal status in the United States. … Being in detention is a choice.”
Reynolds previously told USA TODAY Sports Seck has been moved at least four times and has been detained in Kentucky’s Clay, Clark and Grayson counties and has also been held at a facility in Chicago. DHS did not respond to a question specifically asking why Seck had been moved so many times.
DHS also did not respond to a question asking when and how Seck was notified of her removal order.
In a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports last week, Rep. Morgan McGarvey – a Democrat representing Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District – said his office is monitoring Seck’s situation.
“Aminata is a student-athlete who was arrested by ICE at the airport while traveling with her teammates,” McGarvey said. “The Trump Administration’s cruelty knows no bounds, but we will never let this become normal and we won’t stop fighting for her.”
The NCAA still has not responded to a request for comment.
Who is Aminata Seck?
Seck, who is listed as a senior on Kentucky State’s roster, started 20 of 26 games for the Thorobreds last season and was named third-team All-SIAC after averaging 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. She scored a season-high 30 points against Lane College on Jan. 14 and grabbed a season-best 16 rebounds against Clark-Atlanta University on Feb. 23.
Additionally, Seck was named a recipient of the SIAC’s Elite 16 award, the conference’s highest academic achievement honor for student-athletes who demonstrate exemplary performance in athletics and the classroom.
The 6-foot-4 forward previously played at Langston University, Central Baptist College and Northwest Kansas Technical College. Kentucky State, located in Frankfort, Kentucky, is a historically Black college which plays its sports at the Division II level of the NCAA.
In 2025, 264 international players competed in March Madness for men’s and women’s basketball, amounting to about 15% of all players, according to the NCAA. Since 2010, the number of international players in men’s and women’s college basketball has increased by 175%.
ICE arrests in Kentucky have increased by nearly 70% this year, according to a data analysis by the Louisville Courier-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.
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