Audio articles are automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story; however, this audio has not been reviewed for accuracy and may contain errors. Read more about how we use AI to increase access to our reporting. Years before immigration officers arrested a Mississippi Valley State University basketball player last week, the school he previously played for said it warned him to correct his immigration status — contradicting his attorney’s earlier claim that the student athlete didn’t know his visa had expired. But Qingfang Pang, the 6-foot-9-inch player born in China, received warnings as early as two years ago — when his previous college, Monroe University in New York, advised him to restore his status after learning it had lapsed in September 2024, spokesperson Jacqueline Ruegger told Mississippi Today. His attorney, former professional basketball player Marcus Session, said Friday the information was news to him.  “It doesn’t seem like they’re forthcoming with the right information because they continue to allow a student who’s on an expired visa to attend for two years after they supposedly warned him,” Session told Mississippi Today. “This doesn’t make sense.” Pang previously met with another attorney at Monroe’s recommendation to discuss his expired status, Ruegger said. But Session said Pang told him that he didn’t know his visa had expired until MVSU recently alerted him of the issue. In the years since Monroe reportedly warned Pang to correct his immigration status, he continued to play basketball for the Monroe University Mustangs, before joining the Delta Devils this academic year.  Under federal immigration law, if Pang were on the main international F-1 student visa, his records should have listed that he had officially transferred to MVSU before classes started. Although MVSU’s semester kicked off in August, Ruegger and Session said the university didn’t contact Monroe for Pang’s international-student records until this week — after immigration authorities had already arrested him. MVSU did not communicate a reason for the potential delay in its request, according to Ruegger. Mississippi Valley did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Before Mississippi Today learned of the potential delay, MVSU spokesperson Donnell Maxie said the school’s international student office “wouldn’t delay” on paperwork. “We’re not going to play with that,” Maxie said. “I mean, we’re not a big university with a lot of resources, so we’re just getting by as it is.” Pang is now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana, according to the agency’s website. Session previously told WJTV that Pang was detained last week after MVSU alerted him that his visa had expired. When Pang tried to fly to New York to meet with his sponsor, a family friend, to correct his status, ICE arrested and detained him, Sessions said. The Department of Homeland Security wrote in an email Friday that Pang’s immigration status expired in September 2024, a day after he started his first year playing basketball at Monroe. “He legally entered the U.S. on November 17, 2023 on a temporary basis not to exceed September 5, 2024, but illegally overstayed,” DHS wrote. “This administration will not ignore the rule of law.” ...read more read less