Thread: N.C. State Basketball Player In Country Illegally

http://www.wral.com/news/5086501/detail.html

N.C. State Basketball Player In Country Illegally, Immigration Officials Say

POSTED: 6:30 pm EDT October 11, 2005
UPDATED: 11:39 pm EDT October 11, 2005

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents said Tuesday that Gavin Grant, a sophomore basketball player for N.C. State University, faces possible deportation.

ICE agents said Grant, who moved to The Bronx, New York, from Jamaica when he was nine years old, does not have valid paperwork to be in the country.

Grant was questioned by immigration officers two weeks ago and ordered to attend a hearing in Atlanta.

The schedule of that hearing has not been set. At this time, Grant is free on bond and continues to practice with the team.

Officials said if he cannot provide the judge with proper paperwork, Grant could face possible deportation.

N.C. State officials said Tuesday that on his college application, Grant indicated that he was not a U.S. citizen, but he intended to apply for citizenship.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp ... v=menu70_4

Immigration officials say NCSU player in U.S. illegally

RALEIGH, N.C. Federal immigration officials say North Carolina State basketball player Gavin Grant is in the country illegally.

Sue Brown, a spokeswoman for U-S Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Atlanta, tells The News And Observer of Raleigh that the sophomore could face deportation after a hearing.

Immigration and Customs agent Tom O'Connell says Grant was interviewed in Raleigh early last week. He says he understood that Grant entered the United States from Jamaica after his mother came here.

Gavin Grant has lived in the United States since at least 1994, O'Connell said.

Deportation isn't the only possible outcome for Grant, a key reserve on last year's Wolfpack team that reached the Sweet 16 in the N-C-A-A tournament.

O'Connell says another option would have Grant leave the country voluntarily then apply to return.

N-C State athletics director Lee Fowler did not return a phone call from The Associated Press.

http://sportsillustrated.netscape.cnn.c ... 626508.htm

Immigration officials say N.C. State player in U.S. illegally


RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Federal immigration officials have determined that North Carolina State's Jamaican-born sophomore forward Gavin Grant is in the country illegally, an immigration spokeswoman in Atlanta said Tuesday.

Grant, 20, could face deportation after a hearing in federal immigration court in Atlanta, Sue Brown, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The News & Observer of Raleigh.

She said she had neither specifics on the hearing date for Grant nor details on the amount of bond on which he was released.

``We do know after the interview that it was determined that he was in this country without inspection, which means he did not come with a visitor's visa or anything like that,'' Brown said.

Several messages left by The Associated Press with immigration officials in Cary were not returned Tuesday night.

Tom O'Connell, ICE resident agent in charge in Cary, told the newspaper that Grant was interviewed in Raleigh early last week. He said he understood that Grant entered the United States from Jamaica after his mother did. Gavin Grant has lived in the United States since at least 1994, O'Connell said.

Deportation isn't the only possible outcome for Grant, a key reserve on last year's Wolfpack team that reached the round of 16 in the NCAA U.S. college tournament.

Another option is voluntary departure, where Grant would leave the country on his own, then apply to return, O'Connell said.

N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler did not return a phone call from The Associated Press on Tuesday night seeking comment. Annabelle Vaughan, an assistant athletics director for media relations, declined comment.

She did say that Grant attended a basketball skills workout Tuesday. The 6-foot-7 Grant averaged 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds as a freshman.

Grant played at St. Raymond's in New York, the same high school that produced former Wolfpack star Julius Hodge.
10/12/05 01:58

Heard on the way home a little while ago that Grant will remain on the team pending the immigration hearing which could be 1 year or more away. The NCAA doesn't seem to have a problem with his playing as long as he's in good academic standing. Figure that one out.

Another option is voluntary departure, where Grant would leave the country on his own, then apply to return, O'Connell said.

Chances are he wouldn't have to wait years to get back into the country legally.

N.C. State officials said Tuesday that on his college application, Grant indicated that he was not a U.S. citizen, but he intended to apply for citizenship.

If this is true, somebody in the Athletic Department has some explaining to do. I've been a wolfpack fan for years but I believe every game he has played in or will play in should be forfeited.

Ok sure he can stay, as long as none of the points he scores counts!

For NC that also goes for and blocked shots and defensive stuffs, we'll just call them FOULS.

As for his status, he is FELON, so what does that say about NC? Let revoke their accreditation. I mean keeping felons around knowingly and profiting thereby is also a felony. I'm sure the RICO statutes would be interested from the stand point of ticket sales. An ongoing criminal enterprise.

OH WAIT! He has a definate future in the nba, I mean aren't they somewhat enamoured with FELONS that can shoot? Or beat, or do drugs, I never watch these bozo sports. Bread and circuses America! GET A LIFE! cheers glenn

Originally Posted by Brian503a

N.C. State officials said Tuesday that on his college application, Grant indicated that he was not a U.S. citizen, but he intended to apply for citizenship.

Now that we are establishing new rules, I am applying for last years lottery winnings.

added to homepage

http://www.alipac.us/article807.html

OK Let me get this straight...the NCAA has ordered North Dakota State University to remove the name Fighting Sioux as its macot or name or whatever...but a potential ILLEGAL immigrant is playing basketball at NC State? Gag me! The NCAA has no trouble with this dudes immigration status? Double gag me!

I posted in July and a few weeks ago about Amelia Gomez who was the femlae 2004 NCAA division 2 cross country runner of the year and if you re read my posts about her I think you will see she entered the US illegally although I am not totally positive.

You watch strings will be pulled to keep this Jamacain chump in the country especially if he can make a lot of slam dunks!

Sooner or later, if their boat does not capsize or the desert heat does not kill them they ALL get in!

New discussion at WRAL.

http://forums.ibsys.com/viewmessages.cf ... opic=12786

Should N.C. State Basketball Player Gavin Grant Be Deported For Being In The U.S. Illegally?
T O P I C Discussion Started: 10-12-2005, 7:40 PM

A Raleigh attorney says he is somewhat surprised by immigration authorities' decision to investigate the 20-year-old Jamaican native, who came to the U.S. with his mother when he was 9 years old.
Reports indicate Grant indicated on his college application that he was not a U.S. citizen, but said that he was working toward it.

Particulary "puzzling" to the attorney is the decision, since thousands of other illegal immigrants are in North Carolina who have not maintained their immigration status (read more: http://www.wral.com/news/5092073/detail.html)

Should N.C. State basketball player Gavin Grant be deported for being in the U.S. illegally?

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/ ... 533487.htm

Posted on Tue, May. 09, 2006

Grant faces immigration hearing
Jamaican national in Atlanta for court
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

RALEIGH - N.C. State basketball player Gavin Grant faces an uncertain future as he prepares for an immigration court hearing this morning in Atlanta.

A Jamaican national, Grant hopes to become a permanent resident of the United States and continue playing basketball and attending school. During today's hearing, the government is expected to present its case that he be removed -- deported -- from the United States.

Grant's lawyer, Anna Baird Choi of Raleigh, said Grant is married to his high school sweetheart with a 1-year-old child. To Choi's knowledge, Grant, 21, doesn't know anybody in Jamaica, which he left 12 years ago.

Choi hopes to provide documentation that Grant was inspected by immigration officials when he first came to the United States at a New York airport in May 1994. If Grant can prove that happened, Choi said, he could adjust his immigration status because of his marriage to a U.S. citizen. Choi, however, said customs enforcement officials don't have a record of the inspection.

Today's court appearance won't decide Grant's status, Choi said, but could provide her and Grant with a timeline -- including dates -- for a hearing on the merits of the case and for filing motions for relief from Grant's removal.

Grant, a 6-foot-7 forward, has completed two seasons with the Wolfpack and averaged 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds as a sophomore. He played in high school at St. Raymond's in the Bronx, N.Y.

"He's a remarkable young man," Choi said. "He's trying to make a life for himself. He's doing well in school. He's never had a brush with the law."

Choi said Grant has never been charged with a crime or detained by a law enforcement official except when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers briefly took him into custody last fall, when removal proceedings began.

Choi described Grant as quiet and said he prefers not to comment on his immigration situation. She said he is handling himself well despite dealing with the stress of N.C. State's recent coaching change, school, having a wife and child, and facing removal proceedings.