CVRAN Statement & Call To Action On Behalf of Pastor Steven Tendo

Steven Tendo Taken Into Custody

Steven Tendo, a Ugandan asylum seeker whom CVRAN sponsored for several months in 2021 and 2022 while he lived with the Hankin family in East Montpelier, was taken into custody by ICE on Tuesday February 4 outside his workplace in Shelburne and removed to a detention center in New Hampshire, subject to deportation.

Steven is an ordained pastor who fled his home country after years of persecution and torture for educating and sheltering young people who were protesting the government, urging them to vote against President Museveni’s repressive regime. Two of his fingers were cut off, his brother and sister were killed, and he knew he would be next.

When he came across the U.S. border, he was put into detention in Port Isabel, Texas, where he remained for three years. Steven is diabetic and because ICE refused to provide him with insulin, his eyesight and health were deteriorating. CVRAN learned of his plight and with several other organizations applied to sponsor him as an asylum seeker. Upon his release Steven chose CVRAN because we had been so supportive and welcoming to him.

After receiving his work permit, Steven relocated to Burlington, where he worked for The Dream Project, a national organization fighting for the needs of young people. He also became an LNA, a Licensed Nurse’s Assistant, and was planning to become a nurse. In addition he enrolled in a program and received a certificate from UVM as a Clinical Chaplain at the Medical Center.

Steven is a dedicated and compassionate man, who has enriched the lives of so many, always working to help others. Please see the following call to action for what you can do today to ensure Steven is returned home safely.

Call to action

CVRAN and supporters of Steven’s case are urging folks to contact friends and family across the country to encourage as many federal delegates as possible to advocate for Steven’s release. Please see the following email template and script to share with folks whose federal delegation may be amenable to supporting this effort.

Dear Friends,

I write to you today to ask you to contact your Congressional delegation to advocate for the release of Steven Tendo, an asylum seeker from Uganda who has lived here in Vermont for the past five years, working in healthcare facilities and pastoring a local Christian congregation. Despite the terrible experiences he has had at the hands of Ugandan government forces and, unfortunately, here in the US while in ICE detention, Steven has continued to follow his path of advocating for those in harm’s way here in Vermont as a community organizer.

As reported in Seven Days and The Boston Globe, Steven faced political persecution and torture in Uganda after his charity, Eternal Life Organization International Ministries, criticized the Ugandan government. He has said that forces aligned with the authoritarian Museveni regime cut off two of his fingers, and that his brother and uncle were killed due to their political activities.

A federal immigration judge denied Steven’s asylum application in 2019. He spent two years in an immigration detention center in Texas — and later sued the Department of Homeland Security over his treatment there. Investigators for the department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties have acknowledged wrongdoing.

Since relocating to Vermont, Steven has appeared at an ICE facility in St. Albans for regularly scheduled check-ins — often accompanied by crowds of supporters. He had been scheduled for another check-in this Friday, according to his attorney. He had filed motions to reopen his asylum case, citing worsening conditions in Uganda, and for a new stay of removal.

According to board members of the Northeast Kingdom Asylum Seekers Assistance Network (NEKASAN), Steven is still at Strafford County Corrections in Dover, NH. There is a Go Fund Me for his rent, other bills, commissary, legal fees. https://gofund.me/d8f8b98f2

Here is a script you can use for your calls/emails to your Congressional delegations:

“I am calling (emailing) today to ask you to do all you can to advocate for the release of Ugandan asylum seeker, Steven Tendo, who was taken into ICE custody yesterday in Vermont and is now in a correctional facility in Dover, NH. An ordained Pentecostal minister, Steven faced political persecution and torture in Uganda after his charity, Eternal Life Organization International Ministries, criticized the Ugandan government. Forces aligned with the authoritarian Museveni regime cut off two of his fingers, and his brother and uncle were killed due to their political activities. In Vermont, Steven works in health care and pastors a local Christian congregation. As Jacob Berkowitz, president of the University of Vermont Medical Center Support Staff United labor union said yesterday of Steven, “He’s the type of person we want around. He’s the type of guy we should have in this country. If only we all were in service to community, as Steven is, our country would be in a better place.’’

Please urge your Congresspeople to press ICE for Steven’s release from detention in New Hampshire and the chance to pursue his asylum case.

Thank you,