*Daniel Adongo’s path from professional football to immigration detention ended with his deportation to Kenya, federal authorities announced.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the former Indianapolis Colts linebacker was removed from the country on June 20. An immigration judge had approved his deportation nearly three months earlier, on March 23. According to ICE, Adongo remained in the United States after his visa authorization ended in 2016. His NFL career had concluded the previous year.
The 37-year-old also accumulated a series of arrests in Indiana after leaving football. ICE listed allegations involving battery, disorderly conduct and felony intimidation among his encounters with local law enforcement.
One case resulted in a conviction. In 2020, Adongo was found guilty of criminal mischief connected to property damage and received a 364-day jail sentence.
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ICE said later charges made him subject to mandatory detention under the Laken Riley Act. Signed into law by President Donald Trump on Jan. 29, 2025, the statute requires federal authorities to hold certain undocumented immigrants accused of designated offenses while their cases proceed.
The law was named for Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student murdered in 2024 by a man who had previously entered the country illegally.
ICE Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson defended the decision to remove Adongo.
“This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he’s been removed,” Thompson said. “Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes.”
The Department of Homeland Security used the case to promote the Trump administration’s wider deportation campaign. DHS said nearly 70% of ICE arrests involve people accused or convicted of crimes, though that broader statistic was not independently verified in the agency’s announcement.
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