ICE Has Detained Another College Basketball Player

A Division I basketball player has been taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mississippi Valley State University’s Qingfang Pang, a 6-foot-9 junior from China, was taken into custody on Sept. 29 while trying to fly from Jackson, Mississippi, to his American visa sponsor in New York, Pang’s attorney Marcus Session tells Front Office Sports. Pang had recently learned from the university that his student visa had expired, Session says.

“Mississippi Valley State University is aware of the situation involving one of our students and is deeply concerned for the student’s well-being,” the school said in a statement to FOS. “University officials are closely monitoring the situation and are committed to providing appropriate support as circumstances develop.”

Pang is one of several college basketball players who have been taken into ICE custody in recent months.

Kentucky State women’s basketball player Aminata Seck was released on bond Wednesday after two months in detention. Her case is still ongoing. ICE also arrested Southern Connecticut State University basketball player Deng Deng in early September; Deng was recently released.

ICE is holding Pang at Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, according to the agency’s inmate locator.

In a statement to FOS, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Pang entered the U.S. legally on Nov. 17, 2023 on a temporary status that ended Sept. 5, 2024.

“He accepted voluntary departure and will remain in ICE custody pending removal,” the DHS spokesperson said.

Session says ICE made Pang sign the document for his voluntary departure, and his lawyer has requested bond.

Pang recently enrolled at Mississippi Valley State, which competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, after two seasons of JUCO basketball at Monroe University in New York. Pang started almost every game for Monroe last season, averaging over eight points and four rebounds per game.

A spokesperson for Monroe tells FOS that the school had told Pang they would transfer his immigration records to his new school once they received the request from that institution.

“We have stood ready to do so since last spring, but hadn’t received any such formal request until yesterday,” the Monroe spokesperson said. “Any suggestion that Monroe failed to fulfill its responsibilities is unfounded. We wish Mr. Pang a speedy resolution to this matter.”

Pang attended high school in the New York area at Christ the King High School in Queens and St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, New Jersey. Representatives for those schools did not respond to requests for comment.

An attorney helping with Pang’s case, Nichole Francis Reynolds, told FOS that several members of Congress have agreed to inquire further about Pang’s situation, led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R, Miss.).