44 Members of Congress Urge DHS to Free Pastor Steven

August 20, 2020

On August 18, 44 Members of Congress, led by Congressman Jim McGovern, wrote to Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Wolf, urging his agency to free Pastor Steven Tendo, an asylum-seeker and human rights activist at risk of death if he is deported to Uganda. Pastor Steven is currently detained in Texas, despite his serious medical condition and risk of contracting COVID-19. Amnesty International is urging the U.S. government to free Pastor Steven and to exercise its authority to release people in U.S. immigration detention.

Text of letter | PDF

Dear Acting Secretary Wolf,

 

We write to express our grave concern about the on-going and inhumane treatment of Steven Tendo, a young pastor from Uganda currently seeking asylum in the United States. Pastor Steven is detained at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Los Fresnos, Texas, where he is at imminent risk of deportation despite his well-founded fear of persecution if he is returned to Uganda. We urgently request that the Department of Homeland Security immediately halt the possible deportation of Pastor Steven Tendo to Uganda because of the threat to his life should he be returnedFor life-threatening medical reasons, we further ask for his immediate release from detention on medical parole to his sponsor while his immigration court proceedings continue.

 

Pastor Steven became a target of grave governmental repression after advocating for and participating in nonviolent human rights and voting rights campaigns in Uganda. While detained and tortured, Ugandan Government agents amputated two of his fingers  and burned his legs with melting plastic. Many of his friends and relatives have been attacked and/or killed, ostensibly because of their connection to him and his work.

 

After his arrival to the United States in December 2018, Pastor Steven was detained in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Texas, where he has been held for over 19 months. Although his asylum application was supported by ample evidence of the torture he had suffered  and the harms that would befall him if he was returned to Uganda, an immigration judge denied his application for asylum. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. Pastor Steven has filed a Petition for Review of this decision before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit  as well as a motion to reopen before the BIA.  Both are pending at this time.

 

Despite Pastor Steven’s well-founded fear of persecution, torture, and death, and these unresolved petitions,  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are pressing for his removal to Uganda.  Evidence has been filed with the courts describing how government agents there have already attacked and intimidated the Pastor’s supporters in anticipation of his return.

 

There is reason to believe that Pastor Steven Tendo will be tortured and killed as soon as he arrives in Uganda.  Removing Pastor Steven under these circumstances would constitute a breach of U.S. obligations under both U.S. domestic asylum law as well as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment.

 

In addition to halting Pastor Steven’s deportation until all appeals have been exhausted, we further urge that he be released immediately on medical parole as he is at high risk of serious illness or even death in ICE detention. Pastor Steven has offers of full sponsorship from eligible U.S. citizens and poses no safety or security risk to the community. He has never committed a crime. During more than nineteen months of detention, the pastor’s health has been ravaged. According to medical reports received by his counsel, his diabetes is now out of control, he suffers from recurrent boils, and he is going blind. Despite his obvious medical vulnerabilities, he has not been released on medical parole even as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to escalate in his facility. Recent testing shows that his immune system has been nearly destroyed, leaving him at great risk of imminent infection and even death.

 

Accordingly, we call upon the Department of Homeland Security to immediately halt the possible deportation of Pastor Steven Tendo to Uganda. and urge his release from detention on medical parole to his sponsor while his proceedings before the BIA and the federal appeals court continue.

 

Sincerely,

James P. McGovern

Member of Congress

 

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Barbara Lee                                                                            Anthony G. Brown

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Eleanor Holmes Norton                                                          Alcee L. Hastings

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Filemon Vela                                                                          Peter Welch

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Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.                                                Nydia M. Velázquez

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Bobby L. Rush                                                                        Joseph P. Kennedy, III

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David N. Cicilline                                                                  Mikie Sherrill

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Joaquin Castro                                                                        Rashida Tlaib

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Josè E. Serrano                                                                       Lloyd Doggett

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Jan Schakowsky                                                                      Marcy Kaptur

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Frederica S. Wilson                                                                Donald M. Payne, Jr.

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Karen Bass                                                                              Gwen Moore

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Juan Vargas                                                                            Vicente Gonzalez

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Sylvia R. Garcia                                                                     Mark Pocan

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Andy Levin                                                                             Frank Pallone, Jr.

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André Carson                                                                          Grace F. Napolitano

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Brenda L. Lawrence                                                               Eddie Bernice Johnson

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Alan Lowenthal                                                                      Bonnie Watson Coleman

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Susan Wild                                                                             Rosa L. DeLauro

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Darren Soto                                                                             Ro Khanna

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Ayanna Pressley                                                                     Deb Haaland

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Yvette D. Clarke                                                                     Anna G. Eshoo

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Stephen F. Lynch

Member of Congress