Supporters of the Rev. Edward Nalwamba thought their prayers had finally been answered last week when they were told that immigration authorities would release the Anglican priest from detention after nine long months.
But as a fellow priest and another supporter waited outside of the Aurora detention center’s gates on July 1, his attorney said, officials inside were pressuring the 78-year-old Nalwamba to sign documents and board a commercial flight back to Uganda. He’s been in the United States for 24 years without permanent legal status, and he has feared persecution should he return to the East African country.
“They lied to us,” Joy Athanasiou, Nalwamba’s attorney, said Tuesday, adding that two guards at the facility had told her Nalwamba was set to be released. “You had this church community who was so happy and relieved and literally thought God had answered their prayers.”
The morning after the attempted removal, Nalwamba alleged to Athanasiou that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel had encouraged him to sign a document without allowing him to review all of it. One page had a “grainy” picture of him. According to Athanasiou, the officials held up travel documents from across the room but would not allow Nalwamba to see them up close.
Nalwamba refused to sign anything without his lawyer present.
The Rev. Phil Eberhart, who leads Resurrection Anglican Fellowship, the Greenwood Village Anglican church where the retired Nalwamba previously worked, said he met with Nalwamba on Tuesday morning at the detention center and that Nalwamba gave him a similar account.
Nalwamba has been detained in Aurora since his arrest in September, and his supporters feared he would be removed from the detention facility in Aurora late last month.
It’s unclear what type of documents were presented to Nalwamba. But he told Athanasiou that the ICE agents said he would be deported in chains if he didn’t sign them.
Nalwamba was told to sign or face ongoing detention, Eberhart said.
“He’s really resigned himself to being inside for a while,” Eberhart said.
Nalwamba developed pneumonia in detention late last year and lost 20 pounds. He now uses a wheelchair, and Athanasiou said he developed a new respiratory infection last month. He was evaluated by a doctor at the detention center’s infirmary this week, Eberhart and Athanasiou said. Eberhart said Nalwamba appeared to be in better health Tuesday morning.
ICE spokespeople did not return an email seeking comment Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, that Nalwamba had a final order of removal and had previously refused to depart the U.S.
After his attempts to obtain legal status in the country failed, Nalwamba was arrested and released by immigration officials, who required him to check in periodically for more than a decade. He had previously requested asylum and said he feared returning to Uganda because of his prior political activities against the government.
His supporters have said that they fear he will be arrested or “disappeared” if he’s returned home. The U.S. government a travel advisory urging people not to travel to Uganda.
Anathasiou said that though ICE had a legitimate deportation order for Nalwamba, it would also be unlawful to return him to Uganda, given his persecution fears. His legal team has filed a motion with the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is part of the U.S. Justice Department, to stop his removal. Anathasiou said that request was still pending.
