A Kentucky State University women’s basketball player detained by immigration authorities last month will remain in ICE custody. The Department of Homeland Security announced the decision on September 24.

Aminata Seck, 26, from Dakar, Senegal, was detained on August 7 at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. She was traveling with her team to a tournament in New York when officers took her into custody.

DHS said Seck entered the United States in September 2019 and later overstayed. The agency said an immigration judge issued a final removal order on September 8, 2025, after she failed to appear at a hearing.

Seck’s lawyers dispute that account. They said she never received notice of the hearing and was actively working to maintain her student status. They said she missed a deadline because she was undergoing back surgery.

The 6-foot-4 center had been playing through an ACL injury. Her lawyers said she has experienced seizures during detention and is now in a hospital receiving treatment. DHS confirmed she was referred to a hospital for knee pain on September 21.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents the Louisville district, said he is monitoring her case.