【Epoch Times October 9, 2026】(Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu combined report) Qingfang Pang, a 21-year-old Chinese basketball player at Mississippi Valley State University, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on September 29 for allegedly overstaying his student visa.
Reported by WJTV 12 channel in Jackson, Mississippi, Pang is currently being held at an ICE detention facility in Louisiana.
Standing at 6 feet 9 inches (about 2.06 meters), Pang plays as a forward. Before joining Mississippi Valley State University, he played junior college basketball at Monroe University in New York for two years.
In a statement, the university said, “Mississippi Valley State University is aware of the situation involving one of our students and expresses deep concern for the student’s well-being. The student is currently enrolled as a full-time student at Mississippi Valley State University. The university is closely monitoring the situation and is committed to providing appropriate support as circumstances evolve.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, told USA Today in an email that Pang legally entered the U.S. on November 17, 2023, with permission to stay until September 5, 2024, but he failed to depart by that date.
“He has been placed on voluntary departure and will remain in ICE custody until removed,” the spokesperson said.
Marcus Session, the lawyer representing Pang, told WJTV that his client was apparently unaware that his student visa had expired. According to Session, Pang was attempting to return to New York, where a longtime family friend and sponsor had been supporting him during his time in the U.S.
Pang was detained by ICE while en route to New York. “He wants to continue his education, play college basketball. He just wants to be a 21-year-old young man trying to build a life for himself,” Session told WJTV.
It was reported that delays in processing university-related paperwork may have contributed to the issue, but this has not been independently confirmed.
Mississippi Valley State University, located in Itta Bena, Mississippi, competes in the NCAA Division I Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Listed as a junior on the roster for the Delta Devils of the 2026-2027 season under Coach Mike Davis, Pang had helped Monroe University reach the NJCAA National Basketball Tournament before joining Mississippi Valley State University.
Pang is not the first university basketball player to be detained by ICE this year.
Aminata Seck, a women’s basketball player at Kentucky State University, was granted a $2,500 bond this week after being detained for 61 days. Seck, a Senegalese national, was detained by ICE at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport on August 7.
According to a statement from the DHS to USA Today Sports, Seck legally entered the U.S. in 2019 on a temporary visa but “chose to overstay in violation of U.S. law.”
Seck’s lawyer stated that she was transferred to at least four different detention centers while in ICE custody.