LSU's Last-Tear Poa files lawsuit against U.S. Immigration Services

LSU women’s basketball player Last-Tear Poa has filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Louisiana against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The decision comes after Poa’s P-1A Athlete application was denied, a source tells On3.

Court documents are currently sealed but the docket shows in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana’s filing system. The Melbourne, Australia, native joined the LSU team in 2022 after emerging as one of the nation’s top junior college players at Northwest Florida State College. The lawsuit specifically names Ur Mendoza Jaddou, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Poa helped LSU win its first women’s basketball national title in the 2022-23 season. Last season, she averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 assists per game and took 31 charges throughout the season. Because she is an Australian citizen and on an F-1 student visa, participating in NIL activities is significantly more complicated.

Poa is represented by immigration attorneys Ksenia Maiorova and Amy Maldonado. Poa has been forced to turn down NIL opportunities, despite touting more than 200,000 social media followers. The LSU star’s P-1A Athlete application was denied citing that her future events are not internationally recognized. Roughly 12.3 million viewers tuned into last spring’s Elite Eight matchup between LSU and Iowa.

A source told On3 that Poa’s absence from a recent LSU women’s basketball exhibition game was not related to the lawsuit.

U.S. immigration regulations prohibit international students in the country on F-1 student visas from participating in employment. F-1 visas provide for only limited employment authorization types, most of which must be connected to the degree the athletes pursue. 

As a result, it has been exceedingly difficult for international athletes – about 12% of Division I are international athletes – to legally participate in NIL in the U.S. Typical NIL deals require an athlete to perform a service for compensation, which conflicts with immigration policy.