US Almost Deports Migrant at Center of Ebola Crisis

United States are planning to to chase A 78-year-old retired pastor in Uganda, a country in eastern Africa near the church’s headquarters Ebola spreading. This pastor is also said to be the one under the supervision of the abusive government in the country.

Edward Nalwamba came to the U.S. from Uganda in 2002 and lives and works in Colorado under “deportation status,” which is where someone has a deportation order but cannot be removed from the country. The order was revoked in September 2025, his lawyers said, and he has been under arrest ever since. Mr Nalwamba is expected to be deported on Tuesday.

According to his lawyer and one friend, Nalwamba’s health has deteriorated during the nine months he has been in immigration detention, raising concerns that he could be deported to the region.

Uganda, and its neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are at risk of the latest Ebola outbreak, which has caused killed more than 300 people. Earlier this month, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a travel health information in Uganda, encouraging travelers to follow “precautionary measures”. It is not known how many people from the US are currently being deported to Uganda.

Nalwamba’s case falls at the crossroads of major changes introduced by President Donald Trump’s second term. From January 2025, the US government has blocked foreign aid, killing people US Agency for International Development almost completely. This time, it has they threw billions of dollars to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration Services.

Nalwamba first came to the US on a tourist visa for a religious meeting. In 2001, during Uganda’s presidential election, Nalwamba said he was one of several townspeople who were taken from their homes in the middle of the night and questioned by security forces about his ties to political opponents, according to court documents filed in 2010. he continued to aim members of the political opposition recently such as earlier this year.

During a religious meeting, he says, people Nalwamba knew in Uganda called him to warn him that the political situation in the country was getting worse. While in the US, Nalwamba received a fax containing threats that made him afraid to return home. Nalwamba decided to stay in the US and apply for asylum.

“He was afraid and has been afraid until now that if he returns to Uganda, he will be arrested or tortured or killed, and the Ugandan authorities have come looking for him several times over the years,” says Joy Athanasiou, an immigration lawyer representing Nalwamba.

Athanasious says Nalwamba had a problem with his first immigration attorney, who “disappeared without filing the document.” This, among other things, made his asylum application difficult, and although it was rejected, he was granted his “removal”. Nalwamba was arrested on September 18, 2025, and is being held at a prison in Aurora, Colorado, which is run by the GEO Group, a private prison company.

Immediately after his arrest, Athanasiou says Nalwamba’s belongings were confiscated, including papers and documents. “He believed some of his immigration papers were in there,” he says. In addition, because Athanasiou did not represent Nalwamba in the lawsuits he moved, he does not have access to the original records and documents. “You have to apply to get a client file through the Freedom of Information Act,” he says. The former prosecutor filed Nalwamba’s documents but was only given “a piece of the file,” while other requests are still pending. “This has been a major problem in the government under the current administration,” says Athanasiou.