After weeks in immigration detention, Street Fighter gamer Ludovic Mbock is back on the tournament circuit with an ankle monitor under his pants and a six-figure show of support behind him. The Washington Post's Gene Park reports that the 39-year-old Cameroon native—widely regarded as one of the world's best players of Street Fighter character Chun-Li—was picked up by ICE in February during what had been a routine immigration check-in he'd attended for two decades. He came to the US as a teenager with a green card secured through his mother's marriage, which later dissolved. The green card was revoked and he was reportedly placed on an order of supervision, meaning he had to check in to review a work permit. The Department of Homeland Security now describes him as an "illegal alien."
One of many people without criminal records arrested at immigration check-ins in the DC-Maryland-Virginia region, Mbock was held for six weeks and "honestly thought that I would get deported," he told NBC Washington. What changed his odds: the fighting-game community. Friends and fellow players quickly tracked him across detention centers from Louisiana to Georgia, cold-called dozens of lawyers, and crowdfunded more than $100,000 to cover legal costs, with donations pouring in from fans and the world's largest fighting-game tournament. After posting a $4,000 bond, Mbock is now fighting for asylum as a gay man from a country that criminalizes homosexuality. For him, the message is community or nothing. For the full story—including what Mbock faces next—read Park's piece at the Post.
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