Administrative errors between a New York college and Savannah State University were the cause of the Dominican baseball player’s detention by federal immigration officials last week, according to a lawyer representing 22-year-old Johan Sandoval.
Attorney John Jeha confirmed to The Current GA that Sandoval’s student visa was invalid when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted him in a raid last Friday in New York.
What remains unclear, however, is to what extent the two higher education institutions where Sandoval studied were responsible for paperwork errors, said Jeha, who works at the Syracuse office of law firm Harris Beach Murtha.
“It’s a bureaucratic mistake that has resulted in catastrophic consequences,” he said.
Bryant & Stratton College, where Sandoval first attended classes when he came to the United States in 2022, did not respond to requests for comment about whether administrators transferred a document that international students are required to have — something known as a Form I-20 — alongside a valid student visa, citing privacy laws.
Joline Keevy, the director of SSU’s International Education Center, did not respond to questions about whether the university previously received and filed Sandoval’s Form I-20, while other university officials cited privacy laws.
According to Jeha, Savannah State issued a new I-20 for Sandoval this week, something that the lawyer says should help him fight deportation from the ICE processing facility where he is being held about 40 miles from downtown Buffalo, New York.
Ahead of his arrest, Sandoval had been a fulltime student at Savannah State, had played every game for the Tigers baseball team in the 2026 season and was named this summer’s HBCU All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. He was not aware of any problem with his immigration status, according to Jeha.
Johan Sandoval. The 22-year-old baseball player was taken into custody on July 3 while staying in New York. Photo courtesy of Savannah State University Athletics.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security statement to The Current said that ballplayer —who is listed in ICE’s system under his full name, Johan Efrain Sandoval Rodriguez — was arrested in a “targeted enforcement operation” in Clifton Park, New York.
“Sandoval Rodriguez first entered the U.S. on a nonimmigrant student visa in 2022. He subsequently failed to adhere to the requirements of his student visa, which was terminated in April 2025,” it said.
Arrest details
The DHS has not clarified why ICE decided to target Sandoval this summer, given the apparent long-term visa violation.
Sandoval’s girlfriend, Adriana Wade, told The Current that the baseball player stayed with her family over all his semester breaks since enrolling at SSU in January 2025, as per his LinkedIn.
Jeha was unsure why the agents decided to detain Sandoval in New York instead of earlier in Savannah, but said that to his understanding, ICE caught Sandoval completely off guard.
Wade previously described Sandoval’s arrest as a heated encounter. ICE agents, she said, were angry and loud and destroyed Sandoval’s phone as they detained him at her mother’s apartment in Clifton Park, New York.
The DHS spokesperson wrote that Sandoval attempted to flee his arrest on foot. Jeha said Sandoval went inside the apartment to retrieve his passport — according to Wade, he lost his Georgia ID in the arrest process — and at one point went out to a wooded backyard, but Wade’s mother calmed him down.
Both Wade and Jeha said Sandoval had not been in trouble with immigration before, with Jeha adding that the student-athlete did not have any criminal record.
“From his perspective, he was scared, intimidated, shocked, unsure about what was going on, and he was compliant the whole time,” Jeha said about Sandoval’s experience with ICE.
‘A bureaucratic mistake’
Sandoval left Bryant & Stratton College and enrolled at Savannah State after receiving a full scholarship, according to his lawyer. He was pursuing a degree in business administration and became a star player on SSU’s baseball team.
Along with a student visa, foreign students also must obtain a Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status, known as a Form I-20, from their educational institution. Once international students are accepted for study, a designated school official ensures they receive the I-20.
If a student decides to transfer to another U.S. educational institution, their first school sends the student’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) record to the new institution. Then, the second school processes a new I-20.
The DHS requires designated school officials to register students by filing their I-20 and setting their SEVIS record to Active within 30 days of the program’s start date.
Jeha said Sandoval’s I-20 paperwork was terminated at Bryant & Stratton and not successfully issued by Savannah State, which resulted in Sandoval’s visa being invalidated.
SSU said in a social media statement that the university remains in close contact with Sandoval’s family and legal counsel.
“As this remains an active legal matter, we are hopeful for a positive resolution and will share updates as we are able,” the statement reads.
Noah Brown, 21, who pitched alongside Sandoval for two years, and another former teammate of Sandoval’s both said the Dominican student had never voiced concerns about his visa status before his arrest.
“The fact that he’s enrolled in school and he was committed to playing for another year at Savannah State, we all figured he had to have been fine,” Brown said.
Next steps
Protesters gather in front of Savannah State University on July 8 in solidarity with Johan Sandoval, who was detained by ICE on July 3. Guilio Gnash/The Current GA
About a dozen SSU alums and community members gathered on Monday evening for a rally in solidarity with Sandoval. Passersby honked in support as the attendees waved anti-ICE signs and called for Sandoval’s release.
Lauren Nowak, the president of the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said she didn’t know Sandoval personally, but she organized the rally as a show of support.
“He didn’t deserve to be detained, and he should be out here playing baseball this fall,” she said.
As of Thursday, the ICE Detainee Locator System shows Sandoval is still being held at Buffalo Service Processing Center in Batavia, New York.
Jeha said there is a process to fix straightforward immigration administrative errors and, now since Savannah State has issued the required paperwork, he hopes Sandoval’s case can be resolved.
The DHS has guidelines allowing students to apply for visa reinstatement if their SEVIS records are terminated due to administrative errors.
“The immigration system has a reinstatement process for precisely these kinds of situations,” Jeha said. “He’s not a public safety threat. He hasn’t done anything wrong. It’s a student visa compliance issue, and this is not the right approach to deal with that.”
Jeha said the next step is to ask an immigration judge for a bond redetermination hearing. If Sandoval is released on bond, the student-athlete will be required to attend hearings, as lawyers argue against his deportation.
A GoFundMe campaign created by Sandoval’s sister has raised over $33,000 to cover the potential bond amount, as well as other legal fees and basic necessities. The campaign has garnered over 700 donations since its creation on Sunday.
Sandoval’s former teammate Brown said he has not been able to speak with his Dominican friend since his detainment, but the team is deeply concerned about him and trying to raise awareness around his case.
“We’re doing the most we can to try and help him out,” he said.
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