Johan Sandoval, a 22-year-old junior at Georgia’s historically Black college or university (HBCU), Savannah State University, and one of the top baseball players in the SIAC, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Friday morning in Clifton Park, New York, just weeks after being named the Most Valuable Player of the 2026 HBCU Baseball All-Star Game in Kannapolis, North Carolina.
Sandoval’s case drew immediate attention from the HBCU community. Sandoval was heading to the gym around 7 a.m. when two cars blocked him in the parking lot of the apartment complex where he was staying with his fiancée, Adriana Wade, and her mother. According to Wade, when Sandoval ran back inside to tell them what was happening, ICE agents followed him to the front door. Sandoval presented all his immigration paperwork and complied with officers, but was taken into custody regardless. From Clifton Park, he was transferred to ICE’s Buffalo Service Processing Center in Batavia, New York, where he remains held.
According to The Daily Gazette, Sandoval’s family believes the detention stems from a clerical error in his F-1 student visa paperwork and they did not know the visa had expired until agents stopped him.
Sandoval, who is originally from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, holds a full athletic scholarship at Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia, an NCAA Division II university. He was the only player to start all 47 games for the Tigers in the 2026 season, batted .369 with 65 hits, 51 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases, and earned All-SIAC conference honors in both 2025 and 2026. His sister, Melissa Sandoval Rodriguez, wrote on the family’s GoFundMe page: “Johan is more than a student-athlete. He is a son, a brother, a mentor, and someone who has dedicated himself to becoming the first generation in our family to achieve many of his dreams through higher education.”
Savannah State president Dr. Jermaine Whirl posted a statement on social media saying he is “aware and fully engaged” and is actively working with Sandoval’s family and an immigration attorney. The Department of Homeland Security has not publicly commented on the circumstances of the arrest.
The GoFundMe, titled “Help Bring Johan Home to Finish His Final Year of College,” had raised over $25,900 toward a $40,000 goal as of Tuesday afternoon. His family shared via the GoFundMe that the funds would be used for court filings and legal fees, and costs associated with his case. Wade’s mother, Lynn Tiberio, told The Daily Gazette: “Seeing him led away from my home in handcuffs was heartbreaking.”
The Johan Sandoval ICE detained case joins a growing list of student athletes and college students caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement surge.
