LSU women’s basketball senior guard Last-Tear Poa has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The lawsuit was filed in the Middle District of Louisiana. According to On3, Poa’s P-1A visa was denied, which makes it more difficult for her to secure NIL deals because she is an Australian citizen. The P-1A visa applies to people residing in the U.S. temporarily for competing in athletics.

Poa did not appear in LSU’s first exhibition game against Xavier University of Louisiana on Thursday, nor was she on the bench for the matchup.

“Poa is taking care of business off the floor,” Mulkey said after the exhibition on Thursday.

According to On3, her absence in Thursday’s game was not related to the lawsuit.

In fact, Mulkey did not know about the lawsuit until after LSU’s exhibition win over LSU-Alexandria.

“What lawsuit? That’s news to me,” Mulkey said. “I don’t deal with NIL in our program.”

The senior guard transferred to LSU from Northwest Florida State College in 2023 as one of the top junior college transfers in the country. 

Last season, she was a crucial piece to LSU’s depth off the bench, averaging 4.9 points per game and 3.0 assists per game. She was especially good in her defense on the perimeter.

In the age of NIL, international athletes have been presented with an obstacle, as many of them are required to have the necessary visas in order to be compensated.

Poa is an athlete that would certainly profit off of NIL deals, as she has over 200,000 followers across social media platforms. She’s been forced to turn those deals down thus far.