NAIA Will Not Investigate Arizona Christian Football for Alleged Human Smuggling

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics does not intend to investigate alleged human smuggling by Arizona Christian University football players who were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol and released without criminal charges in 2021 and 2022 {snip}

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An 18-month investigation by The Republic exposed multiple instances of alleged human smuggling by former ACU football players, revealed a current ACU player who allegedly distributed driving assignments to his teammates, and examined claims that a former ACU assistant and high school coach was involved in the scheme.

Malakai Samuelu and Meamoni “Junior” Faualo left the school following their arrests in January 2022, James “JJ” Mcelhenny was suspended for spring practice for his alleged role in the scheme, and running backs coach Kevin Hall Jr., was dismissed by ACU shortly thereafter for “completely unrelated” issues with his job performance {snip}

The incident with Samuelu and Faualo was not the first time an Arizona Christian University football player was arrested by the Border Patrol for human smuggling and released without criminal charges, current and former ACU players told The Republic. One former player detailed his experience the previous semester, during the football season in fall 2021, how he was recruited on Snapchat to drive migrants from border towns to metro Phoenix, was paid $1,000 per head and made several trips before being stopped, arrested and released without charges.

“They saw my record was clean and they’re like, ‘You’re a good kid. You play college football. You shouldn’t be doing this shit,’” he told The Republic.

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