After living in the U.S. for 25 years, Alex Maganda sits in an Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility in Texas.
But his former Morehouse College teammate, Temitayo Agoro, hasn’t forgotten him.
From his home in Florida, Agoro told Capital B Atlanta the two players, both from immigrant families, had a bond the moment they met on the football field.
Agoro, a sophomore punter for the Maroon Tigers whose parents were from Nigeria, saw the new kicker from Mexico who had been recruited from North Carolina with only 24 hours until fall classes began and immediately thought he was something special.
“He was kicking the ball very far,” Agoro recalled. “And I was like, ‘We had a new threat on our team that could help us progress on the field.’”
While the Tigers went on to finish the 2014 season 6-4 overall, Maganda led the team in scoring.
The two young men would go on to live together and make memories on the gridiron and with Agoro’s camera. Founder of the social media platform AUC CAM, Agoro, along with Maganda, captured positive and special moments around campus.
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“We were one of the main outlets on campus that promoted positivity by capturing nice photography, amazing videos, and amazing stories of people that were on campus,” Agoro said.
After graduation, Agoro moved to Florida, where he now works as a philanthropist and photographer creating content for entrepreneurs.
Maganda graduated in 2018, and after working as a teaching assistant at Morehouse, later moved to Dallas and began working as a general contractor.
The last time the former teammates spoke was three months ago via FaceTime. Agoro said he tried to convince his old friend to come visit him in Florida.
“I was telling him that we need to bring him out to Miami, meet some of the new people I work with,” Agoro, 30, said. “There was really nothing wrong at that time. Everything was good.”
Now those plans will have to wait.
Maganda, who came to the U.S. with his parents when he was 5, was detained by ICE agents after a traffic violation two weeks ago. He was moved to the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, 200 miles from Dallas. When Capital B Atlanta reached out to the facility, they confirmed his detainment.
Agoro, like many in the AUC community, said he learned of his friend’s detention on social media.
“I saw it on social media, and I was very distraught,” Agoro said. “I was like, ‘Damn, the things that President [Donald] Trump has done are now affecting my brother.’”
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Carrie Nguyen, Maganda’s attorney, said he came to the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, which was constructed to shield participants from deportation. Maganda’s status reportedly expired recently and wasn’t renewed.
In the weeks since the news of Maganda’s detainment began to spread on social media, Agoro and others in the Morehouse football community have been rallying support.
“We’ve all been talking, making a lot of stories on the outlets so we can get everything out there and get the awareness out so maybe the judge can do something.”
Two petitions on Change.org are calling for Alex’s immediate release on bond.
In May, at the Bluebonnet facility where Maganda is currently being held, drone cameras captured detainees spelling out an “S-O-S” message in the yard after news spread that Venezuelan detainees were being targeted by the Trump administration for deportation to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary block to the order.
ICE has recently directed attorneys to no longer allow bond hearings for those in the U.S. illegally, which would force them to remain in detention while fighting deportation.
The message of support posted by the AUC CAM Instagram account Agoro founded, and posted photos on of their time together at Morehouse, best summarizes his feelings about his friend and former teammate’s detention:
“Our brother Alex Maganda (’18) has been detained by ICE in Dallas, TX. Alex is a kind-hearted, hardworking, and loyal friend to many across the Spelhouse community. His life and future are in jeopardy.
We must stand in SOLIDARITY and take ACTION.”
Staff writer Madeline Thigpen contributed to this report.
Follow Capital B Atlanta for updates on this developing story.
