BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – We’re digging deeper into the story of Steven Tendo, an asylum seeker living in Vermont who was detained by ICE, but has been released. We spoke with his lawyer about his plan to stay in the states amidst the national immigration crackdown.
Stephen Tendo was a political activist in Uganda. He fled after he was tortured, shot in the leg, and lost two of his fingers. He sought asylum at a port of entry in Brownsville, Texas, in 2018.
In 2019, the Department of Homeland Security denied his application and Tendo was detained for two and a half years.
The Department of Homeland Security says they denied his application for asylum because of inconsistencies.
“They had to do with his wife’s date of birth, as well as his prior visa application, which asked for all the countries that he traveled through,” said Christopher Worth, Tendo’s lawyer.
A non-profit research group found 69% of asylum applications were denied in 2019 during Trump’s first term. Tendo was released on an order of supervision in 2021, which means he could live and work in the U.S. while awaiting potential removal. Since then, he’s been a pastor and a nursing assistant in Vermont.
“Steven filed three applications for stays of removal, all of which were granted. He was scheduled for a check-in on Friday, February 6th. ICE had been notified that that’s when the stay application was being filed, but yet they took that day as the opportunity to arrest him two days before his check-in,” said Worth.
Tendo spoke with Senator Peter Welch about the conditions of the Dover detention center.
“The circumstances he described in Dover were really — very, very bad,” said Senator Welch.
A New Hampshire judge found ICE violated Tendo’s due process because the federal agency did not provide the required notice for revoking his supervised release. Tendo, who has no criminal record, walked free on February 20th.
“The pattern that we’re seeing is that ICE seems to have a quota for arrests. I’ve heard that they have to make 3,000 arrests every day, and that’s very hard to do. And so, ICE seems to be arresting everyone they possibly can, whether or not that person may be removed or not,” said Worth.
Tendo is expected to check in with ICE on March 20th at their St. Albans office. While his attorneys are hard at work trying to delay his potential removal, it’s unclear if he will be detained again before then.
