One of the more curious side-effects of Donald Trump‘s snap executive ordered-ban on immigration from a number of nations the US has deemed “threats,” is that one of those nations is Sudan, which happens to be the birthplace of two current NBA stars in Luol Deng, and Australian-adoptee Thon Maker.
The NBA took the extraordinary step of contacting the US State Department for clarification on the immigration status of both players, which on-paper put their re-entry into the US under threat in situations where they leave the country in order to play the Toronto Raptors in their Canadian home.
At the time of the request, NBA spokesman Mike Bass issued a statement confirming the move, asserting the NBA’s status as a global sport in the process:
“We have reached out to the State Department and are in the process of gathering information to understand how this executive order would apply to players in our league who are from one of the impacted countries. The NBA is a global league and we are proud to attract the very best players from around the world.”
While the State Department is yet to respond to the NBA directly with clarification, subsequent diplomatic deals – as well as quirks of geography – seem to suggest that both Maker and Deng will indeed be exempt from the sweeping immigration ban.
Both Deng and Maker were born in the area that is now South Sudan; a country that only achieved independence from Sudan in 2011.
For Deng, it’s a similar situation due to his status as a dual citizen of both South Sudan and Great Britain. British PM Theresa May struck a deal with the Trump administration that would see Deng’s British passport protected under a special provision.
Deng is a proud refugee and has used his status in the past to stand behind the cause of refugee and displaced people, posting a statement of support to his Twitter feed earlier this morning.
The immigration ban has already affected two American basketballers, Joseph Jones and J.P. Prince, who play professionally in Iran. The pair are reportedly stranded in Dubai after Iran issued a reactionary ban on US immigration in response to Trump’s executive order.
The ban has sparked mass, on-going protests as the Trump Presidency enters just its second week.
Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty.
