A Morehouse College graduate is being held in a Texas detention center after a traffic violation led to his apprehension by immigration authorities.
Alex Maganda came to the U.S. from Mexico at 5 years old, according to his attorney. But his detainment by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement two weeks ago has his loved ones worried the Dallas resident could be deported.
“This man has been here since 2000. It’s 2025 and he’s 30 years old and has this huge community,” his girlfriend, Maszoliin Spencer, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He doesn’t know anyone [in Mexico]. He’s from there but he doesn’t know anything. This country shaped him.”
Alumni from Morehouse and Spelman colleges have spread the word of his detainment on social media, seeking ways to get him released from the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas.
Maganda was a recipient of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that shields participants from deportation. Spencer said his status recently expired and he didn’t get it renewed.
His attorney, Carrie Nguyen, said Maganda has a strong case to be released on immigration bond.
“He graduated high school, had a very accomplished football career, went to Morehouse, has a good job, he pays his taxes, he has a U.S. citizen girlfriend,” Nguyen said Friday in an interview with the AJC. “Did he make a mistake? Absolutely. But who hasn’t? He’s not a danger to the community and he’s not a flight risk because there are ways for him to obtain his residency down the road.”
ICE did not provide a comment as of Friday afternoon.
She will represent Maganda in an El Paso Immigration Court video hearing that is expected to take place within the next two weeks. While confident about his case, she cautioned that the Trump administration has made it very difficult to get bond for clients by, “trying all the different tricks to say someone is not eligible.”
Maganda was a kicker on the Morehouse football team and led the team in scoring as a freshman in 2014. He was working as a general contractor in Dallas before his detainment.
Spencer said Maganda is in good spirits and has felt comforted by the outpouring of support from Atlanta’s historically Black colleges.
“I don’t feel alone, he doesn’t feel alone, his family doesn’t feel alone,” Spencer said. “If we can get him home that would be the biggest blessing.”
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