(NewsNation) — A Kenyan national who played briefly with the National Football League’s Indianapolis Colts has been deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago after he was previously ordered to leave the United States.
Daniel Ogama Adongo, 37, overstayed his visa in 2016 after his NFL career ended in 2015. A Department of Justice immigration judge ordered him removed March 23, and ICE deported him June 20, the agency announced Friday.
Adongo was arrested multiple times in Indiana over the past nine years for crimes including felony intimidation, battery and disorderly conduct. He was convicted of criminal mischief with damage in 2020 and sentenced to 364 days in jail, federal prosecutors said.
Adongo, a former rugby player who turned to football, was released by the Colts in 2015 after he played a total of five games, mostly on special teams. His release came after police were called to a home in suburban Indianapolis to check on a woman who lived at the residence with Adongo, ESPN reported.
According to a police report, the woman notified a friend via text message that she needed help. The friend got in touch with the police, who then arrived at the residence. There, the woman said she did not want medical assistance, and she could not explain why she sent the text, the report indicated.
The most recent criminal charges fall under the Laken Riley Act, which requires the detention, without bond, of migrants in the U.S. illegally for certain crimes.
The bill was introduced following the murder of Laken Riley by a migrant who had previously been cited for shoplifting on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia. President Trump signed the bill into law shortly after taking office in 2025.
Trump administration officials have reported that more than 356,000 people have been deported in fiscal year 2026 while ICE arrests have increased significantly since May.
“This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he’s been removed,” ICE Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson said in a statement released by the Department of Homeland Security. “Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes.”
