by Mary Spiller
April 4, 2026
John Bol Ajak has been held in ICE custody for over a month in reference to an expired scholar visa.
A former Syracuse Orange males’s basketball participant has agreed to be deported to South Sudan after spending greater than a month in federal immigration, ICE, custody, concluding a case centered on an expired scholar visa.
John Bol Ajak, 26, accepted a proper removing order throughout a digital listening to on March 2 earlier than an immigration decide in New Jersey.
Offered with the choice to depart voluntarily or settle for deportation, Ajak selected the latter, saying he needed to exit the USA as quickly as doable.
“If that is how I’m leaving, I by no means wish to step foot on this nation once more,” Ajak mentioned throughout the proceedings.
A voluntary departure would have required him to fund his personal journey whereas preserving the opportunity of returning legally sooner or later. By selecting deportation, the U.S. authorities will deal with his removing, however the order might restrict his capability to reenter the nation later.
Throughout the listening to, Ajak instructed the courtroom he intends to return to Pawuoi Payam in Twic East County, the place a lot of his household resides. He mentioned each of his mother and father are presently in Sudan and indicated he doesn’t worry returning. Representing himself, Ajak declined authorized counsel.
As reported by Syracuse, Ajak recounted his journey to the USA, explaining that he arrived in 2014 after leaving Kenya to pursue schooling and basketball alternatives. He later attended Syracuse College and graduated in December 2023 from the S.I. Newhouse Faculty of Public Communications. He mentioned he lately tried to enroll in a graduate program there however acknowledged his F-1 visa had expired.
The decide famous that Ajak’s visa lapsed in 2023 following his commencement and that he had a 60-day grace interval to depart the nation. After overstaying, the Division of Homeland Safety established that he was not within the U.S. legally.
Ajak was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Feb. 18 after being launched on pretrial situations tied to a number of arrests in Syracuse. Data present he confronted expenses together with trespassing, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct throughout a number of incidents between December and February.
He was initially held in a federal facility in New York earlier than being transferred to a detention heart in Pennsylvania, the place he stays.
Ajak performed three seasons at Syracuse from 2020 to 2023 as a reserve heart, contributing totally on protection. Reflecting on his school resolution, he mentioned, “I got here to Syracuse as a result of I needed to remain rooted and grounded within the African group.”
Born in South Sudan, Ajak fled civil struggle as an toddler and spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp earlier than transferring to the USA as a teen. He instructed the courtroom he had hoped to proceed his schooling and ultimately assist different refugees discover comparable alternatives.
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