Former Syracuse basketball player reunites with family in South Sudan after ICE detention

John Bol Ajak with his mother in South Sudan. They were attending his uncle's wedding after he returned home (Courtesy of John Bol Ajak)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Former Syracuse University basketball player John Bol Ajak has returned to South Sudan after spending more than a month in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Ajak, 26, who had been living in Syracuse, agreed to a deportation order April 2 during a virtual immigration court hearing.

Ajak told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard this week that he had safely arrived home and shared photos of himself smiling in a suit alongside his mother at his uncle’s wedding.

Ajak said he is staying at his father’s compound in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

He said ICE transported him from Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., where he boarded a flight to Ethiopia before arriving in South Sudan around April 18.

“I don’t have a victim mentality. I just look at this as freedom in disguise,” Ajak said in a Thursday phone call regarding his deportation. “You know, East or West, home is best. That’s all I’ve felt. I have no regrets about how my experience went in America.”

Ajak said he had not seen his family in about 12 years since coming to the United States, so the past few weeks have felt like a dream. He said he has been spending time with his siblings and cousins and wakes up every morning to have breakfast with his father.

For the next few weeks, Ajak said he plans to focus on family time and rest. After that, he hopes to return to philanthropy and help children in Sudan access education and opportunities to travel to the United States, as he did.

“I’m really thrilled to be home,” Ajak said. “Waking up with my mom and dad at home every day. It’s like I’m a kid all over again.”

Ajak was originally taken into ICE custody on Feb. 18 after appearing before a city criminal court judge in downtown Syracuse, he previously told syracuse.com.

He had been arrested several times at Syracuse University since December. All of the charges were misdemeanors for trespassing and disorderly conduct near campus or inside the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication, where he had attended classes.

Ajak earned his bachelor’s degree in communication and rhetorical studies in December 2022. He later began graduate studies but did not finish.

Ajak represented himself in immigration court and declined legal counsel. During the hearing, he described coming to the United States in 2014 after leaving Kenya in pursuit of educational and basketball opportunities in Pennsylvania.

He also discussed his time at Syracuse University and said he had recently attempted to enroll in a master’s program at the Newhouse School. However, he acknowledged his F-1 student visa had expired in 2023 after he graduated.

Judge Adam G. Panopoulos said he was sympathetic but ruled that the Department of Homeland Security had proven that Ajak had overstayed his visa. The judge said Ajak had 60 days to leave the United States after his visa expired.

Ajak said his time in ICE detention wasn’t bad, but he was ready to go home. He said he met people from all over the world, played soccer, and learned about the justice system while representing himself.

“I met a lot of great people that came to the United States for the American Dream like me,” Ajak said. “Some of these people had Social Security numbers, workers permits and green cards, and they were still arrested.”

Ajak said he hopes to travel more of the world once he is settled and visit the small village of Pawoui in South Sudan, where much of his extended family still lives.

He thanked those who helped him in the United States. He specifically thanked former Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, the Church Farm School in Pennsylvania, and his former SU teammates, classmates and professors.

“A lot of people supported me and made the situation a little bit easier, and I don’t want what happened with ICE to overshadow my experience in America because it was really great,” Ajak said.