Aminata Seck, a Kentucky State University basketball player, has been hospitalized after suffering seizures while in ICE custody, according to her attorney. Seck was detained at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on Aug. 7 while traveling with her team and has been transferred among multiple detention facilities. DHS says she missed an immigration hearing and had a final removal order issued last year; her lawyers say she never received notice. Local officials and advocates are monitoring the case and seeking better medical care and legal review.
Kentucky State Basketball Player Aminata Seck Hospitalized After Seizures While in ICE Custody
Aminata Seck, a 6-foot-4 center for Kentucky State University's women's basketball team, remains in federal immigration custody and has been hospitalized after suffering seizures, her attorney says.
Attorney Hishem Alsalman told Front Office Sports that Seck has been moved between four detention facilities since August and is now receiving medical treatment in a hospital. Alsalman said Seck experienced seizures while detained and that her medical care has been inconsistent amid multiple transfers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told media outlets that Seck was detained because she missed an immigration hearing and that a final removal order was issued last year. "She chose to overstay her welcome in violation of our nation's laws," a DHS spokesperson said in a quote obtained by USA Today. "To be clear: a pending application or work authorization does not confer legal status in the United States."
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Attorney Response: Alsalman disputes DHS's account, saying Seck never received notice of removal proceedings or any hearing date. "Aminata was not aware that she had ever been placed in removal proceedings, nor was she aware that an immigration judge had entered an in absentia removal order against her," Alsalman told Front Office Sports. He added that Seck had been actively taking steps to maintain her student status while continuing her studies at Kentucky State.
ICE agents arrested Seck at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on August 7 as she traveled with the Kentucky State women's basketball team en route to a tournament in New York. Attorney Sadiqa Reynolds told the Courier Journal that Seck has been transferred among multiple facilities since that arrest and has struggled to obtain consistent medical care while detained. Reynolds also said Seck has an existing ACL injury that has been disrupted by the transfers.
Seck, who transferred to Kentucky State from Langston University and hails from Dakar, Senegal, has been a key player for the Lady Thoroughbreds over the past two seasons. In 2025–26 she started 17 of 20 games and averaged 11.9 points and 7.7 rebounds.
U.S. Representative Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.) said he is monitoring the situation and criticized the administration's enforcement actions. "Aminata is a student-athlete who was arrested by ICE at the airport while traveling with her teammates. The Trump administration's cruelty knows no bounds but we will never let this become normal and we won't stop fighting for her," McGarvey said in a statement included in reporting referenced by regional outlets.
The case has been reported by Front Office Sports and the Courier Journal, with DHS statements appearing in USA Today. Seck's legal team continues to assert that she never received notice of the removal proceedings that DHS cites as the basis for her detention. Her attorneys and advocates are pushing for clearer access to medical care and for legal review of her immigration status and the circumstances that led to her in absentia order.
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