Judge Orders ICE to Release College Basketball Player

An immigration judge has ruled that Kentucky State women’s college basketball player Aminata Seck may be released on bond, her lawyer tells Front Office Sports.

Seck has been in ICE custody since Aug. 7, when she was detained at the airport while traveling with her basketball team. The 26-year-old center from Dakar, Senegal, who has an ACL injury, has in detainment experienced seizures and been kept in isolation for days at a time, said Seck’s attorney, Hishem Alsalman.

On Tuesday, Alsalman told FOS an immigration judge ruled that Seck may be released on a $2,500 bond. The government has 24 hours to file a notice of appeal, which would halt her release.

Seck has argued that she did not receive notice of the 2025 immigration hearing that the Department of Homeland Security has claimed she missed, nor the final removal order issued after she missed that hearing.

Last week, an immigration judge allowed Seck to re-open her case. Alsalman said the judge found Seck “‘demonstrated that she did not receive notice’ of her prior immigration court hearing.”

In addition to her immigration case, Seck still has a wrongful detainment suit, or habeas corpus petition, ongoing in the Western District of Kentucky.

Seck was initially set to have an immigration hearing on Nov. 20, but part of those proceedings were moved up to Tuesday, and are set to continue on Thursday, Alsalman said.

If the government decides to appeal the judge’s decision to grant the bond, Seck could continue to stay in ICE custody for months. The case would get sent to the Board of Immigration Appeals—a process that often takes months—and she would remain in detention during that time, unless her habeas case is successful.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.