Federal agents removed a former Indianapolis Colts linebacker from Chicago after he overstayed his visa for nearly a decade and racked up multiple criminal charges, a case ICE says proves no one is above immigration law.
Daniel Ogama Adongo, a 37-year-old Kenyan national who once made headlines as a rugby convert turned NFL prospect, was deported on June 20 after a Department of Justice immigration judge ordered his removal in March. ICE's Chicago field office carried out the order, capping years of legal trouble that began when Adongo let his visa lapse in 2016, just one year after his brief NFL career ended, the New York Post reported.
ICE Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Douglas Thompson left no room for ambiguity about the agency's posture:
"This dangerous individual was clearly a threat to the community, which is now safer since he's been removed. Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes."
That last line, "including former professional athletes", carries the weight of the case. Adongo is not a nameless border-crosser. He arrived in the United States as a recruited rugby player, earned a spot on an NFL roster, and still wound up as an illegal immigrant with a criminal record. The system caught up with him all the same.
Adongo came to the U.S. after being recruited as a rugby player. He transitioned to football and played linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts from 2013 to 2015, spanning two seasons. His arrival in the league drew attention at the time, a Kenyan rugby athlete making the jump to American football was unusual enough to generate interest.
But after his NFL career ended, Adongo stayed. His visa expired in 2016, and he remained in the country illegally. Over the following years, he was arrested multiple times. His rap sheet, as described by ICE, includes arrests for felony intimidation, battery, and disorderly conduct. In 2020, he was convicted of criminal mischief with damage and sentenced to one year in jail.
The pattern is familiar to anyone who follows immigration enforcement: an illegal immigrant accumulates arrests and even convictions, yet remains in the country for years. Under the previous administration, cases like Adongo's often languished. A Biden-appointed judge in one case freed an illegal immigrant wanted for murder on $500 bail, a decision that illustrated how thoroughly parts of the system worked against enforcement.
The legal mechanism that kept Adongo locked up pending removal was the Laken Riley Act, signed by President Trump. The law requires that illegal immigrants convicted of certain crimes be detained without bond, closing a gap that previously allowed criminal offenders to walk free while their immigration cases dragged through the courts.
In Adongo's case, ICE arrested him and a DOJ immigration judge ordered his removal in March. Breitbart reported that Adongo was held at Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana before his deportation was carried out on June 20. The Laken Riley Act meant he could not post bond and walk back onto the streets while the paperwork moved.
That matters. Before the law's passage, an immigration detainee with Adongo's profile, arrests for felony intimidation and battery, a conviction on his record, but no murder charge, might well have been released pending a hearing that could take months or years to schedule. The Laken Riley Act closed that revolving door for offenders convicted of qualifying crimes.
ICE enforcement operations in Chicago have drawn resistance from local officials and activists in recent months. In one case, a Chicago man was indicted for allegedly ramming an ICE agent's truck during an enforcement operation, a sign of how contentious federal immigration work has become in cities that long positioned themselves as sanctuaries.
The agency used Adongo's removal to reinforce its broader message. In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, ICE said that since the start of the Trump administration, DHS law enforcement has focused on removing "criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, child sex abusers, gang members, and terrorists."
The agency cited a striking statistic: nearly 70 percent of ICE arrests involve illegal immigrants who have been charged with or convicted of a crime in the United States. More than 3 million illegal immigrants have left the country under the current enforcement push, ICE said.
The agency's statement ended with a blunt warning:
"If you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you."
That language is plainspoken in a way federal agencies rarely are. It reflects a deliberate shift in tone, enforcement as deterrence, not just process. Whether it deters anyone remains an open question, but the message is no longer muddled by euphemism.
Federal enforcement sweeps have expanded well beyond immigration in cities like Chicago. In a recent large-scale operation, an FBI-led sweep in Chicago netted 305 arrests and recovered 24 missing children, underscoring the scope of federal law enforcement activity in the city.
Fox News Digital reported it could not immediately reach Adongo for comment. His side of the story, why he overstayed, what he was doing in the years between his NFL exit and his deportation, remains untold. The facts on the public record, however, are not ambiguous. He overstayed his visa by nearly a decade. He was arrested repeatedly. He was convicted and jailed. And for years, none of that resulted in his removal.
The question Adongo's case raises is not whether he should have been deported, a DOJ immigration judge answered that, but why it took so long. An illegal immigrant with a felony intimidation arrest, a battery arrest, and a criminal mischief conviction sat in the country for years after his visa expired. The system that was supposed to enforce the law did not enforce it until the law changed and the political will followed.
Enforcement actions have not come without friction. In Houston, an ICE agent fatally shot a man during an enforcement encounter after an alleged vehicular assault, a reminder that the work carries real risk for agents on the ground.
Adongo's fame, such as it was, did not shield him. Thompson's statement made that explicit. A former professional athlete got the same treatment as anyone else who overstays a visa and picks up a criminal record. That is how enforcement is supposed to work, equally, without regard to name recognition or past accomplishments.
When the law applies to everyone, it means something. When it applies only to people nobody has heard of, it is not law, it is selective convenience.
