A 40-year-old Ugandan man and Colchester resident who wants asylum in the U.S. will be allowed to stay at least until the summer.
That鈥檚 after Steven Tendo reported to a 鈥渓ast-minute鈥� meeting Tuesday at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in St. Albans. He had feared he would be deported,
Outside the building, he was met by cheers from 80 or so supporters, who waited for 20 minutes 鈥� in frigid temperatures 鈥� for Tendo to emerge.
鈥淚鈥檓 still with you for the next six months,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 am just so warm, even if it's freezing, that you guys came for me.鈥�
Tendo has been trying to get asylum since he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Brownsville, Texas in late 2018, after experiencing 鈥渘umerous arrests and torture鈥� in his home country of Uganda.
. It alleges that while he was detained by immigration authorities, he received inadequate medical treatment for his diabetes. The suit also alleges mistreatment by ICE officers after they and didn鈥檛 allow him food, water, medication or a bathroom for hours.
The U.S. government鈥檚 response of medical neglect and mistreatment. That lawsuit
While Tendo鈥檚 original asylum request was denied in 2019, he and support for his case, urging the Department of Homeland Security to allow him to stay.
And Tendo has stayed thus far. He was released from detention in 2021 and moved to Vermont that year. He鈥檚 since started training to become a fully-licensed nurse at University of Vermont Medical Center, and
Tendo has continued reporting regularly to the St. Albans ICE office. Tendo鈥檚 attorney, Brett Stokes, who鈥檚 also the director of the Center for Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC) at Vermont Law and Graduate School, says Tendo wasn鈥檛 expecting to visit ICE today.
鈥淚t was a bit last-minute,鈥� Stokes said Tuesday. 鈥淯nfortunately, when they schedule these appointments, they don't tell us, and we don't really have a way of knowing what are these appointments for.鈥�
He said Tendo and his legal team assumed the worst.
鈥淕iven that Steven does have a deportation order, we thought that it was possible, especially given the inauguration yesterday, that they could be ramping up enforcement operations even further in Vermont, and could be taking Steven into detention,鈥� Stokes said.
He鈥檚 referring to the start of Donald Trump鈥檚 second presidency on Monday. On Trump鈥檚 first day, he to restrict immigration as part of his promise to carry out 鈥渢he largest deportation operation鈥� in American history.
The Trump administration鈥檚 approach to immigration was the reason some of Tendo鈥檚 supporters gave for showing up outside the ICE office Tuesday.
Like 70-year-old Becky Galvin from Burlington. She said she didn鈥檛 know Tendo personally, but she , and she worried about Tendo鈥檚 last-minute call from ICE becoming a pattern.
鈥淚 feel that one of the very few things we can do is stand as witnesses, in solidarity with the people that are at risk of being victimized by new immigration policies,鈥� Galvin said.
Solidarity is also the reason that Lupita, a 30-year-old member of the Vermont Latino immigrant farmworker community, who we are only calling by her middle name due to her legal status, says she showed up.
鈥淲henever someone from the migrant community is under attack, we always have to react, because they also have to know that the community is organized, and we have to support them so that this does not lead to an arrest or something,鈥� she said in Spanish through an interpreter from Migrant Justice.
While Tendo and his legal team were prepared for him to be detained and deported, Stokes said they got a stay of removal request on file 鈥� and it appears ICE will approve it.
鈥淚t will likely be approved, especially because they, you know, allowed us to leave today,鈥� Stokes said.
As for why this 鈥渓ast-minute鈥� visit happened at all on Tuesday 鈥� Tendo said ICE told him they made a mistake about the timing of his next appointment and wanted to clear that up.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
In the meantime, Stokes says Tendo and the legal team will continue proceeding with the lawsuit, and that they also hope to reopen his asylum case.
Tendo鈥檚 next check-in with ICE is scheduled for July.
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