ICE removes Daniel Adongo after a March removal order, taking the former Indianapolis Colts linebacker out of the United States on June 20. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he had been in custody for months before the removal.
Douglas Thompson said, "Those who violate immigration law are held equally accountable, including former professional athletes." The case now sits at the point where Adongo’s football past, his immigration record and a criminal case all converged on one deportation date.
June 20 and March
A Justice Department immigration judge ordered his removal in March, and federal immigration officials carried it out on June 20. ICE said he overstayed his visa in 2016 and held him without bond under the Laken Riley Act. ICE removes Daniel Adongo after March removal order
That timeline matters because it shows how the case moved from a removal order to months in custody before deportation. For anyone following the case from Indianapolis, the key change is simple: Adongo is no longer in the United States.
Betty Adongo and court records
Betty Adongo asked the court to release her son for medical evaluation. Court records showed judges twice found him incompetent to stand trial, and Dr. Jason Jaronik wrote that Adongo was acutely psychotic.
Jaronik also raised the possibility of a traumatic brain injury from Adongo’s playing days. That medical record sits alongside ICE’s description of him as a dangerous individual, a contrast that shaped how the case was handled in custody.
Indianapolis Colts timeline
Ryan Grigson signed Adongo in July 2013, when he was 23 and playing Super Rugby in South Africa. The Colts spent a season teaching him football on the practice field, and he later appeared in five games over three seasons, with one defensive snap and roughly $694,000 earned.
Indianapolis waived him in December 2015, a week after police were called to his home over a reported domestic disturbance. That was the second police call to his home in two months, and it marked the end of a brief NFL career before the later immigration case began.
Adongo’s 2020 conviction for criminal mischief and 364-day jail sentence added another layer to the record ICE cited. The unresolved point is where he was deported to, and the answer has not been given in the material now on the record.
