U.S. Prepares to Deport 78-Year-Old Ugandan Pastor to Ebola Outbreak Zone

U.S. immigration authorities plan to deport a 78-year-old retired pastor to Uganda on Tuesday. The man has been held since September 2025 at a private detention facility in Aurora, Colorado. Edward Nalwamba arrived in the United States in 2002 on a tourist visa and later received a stay of removal after an asylum claim was denied.

Officials revoked the order of supervision in September 2025, leading to his detention.

His attorney states that Nalwamba now uses a wheelchair and has an active respiratory infection with chills, weakness, and rib pain. Blood work obtained in December showed signs of malnourishment and untreated pneumonia. A pastor who visited him last week said Nalwamba was previously active but has deteriorated sharply during detention.

The attorney reports that a second clinic request made last Friday has not been answered.

Uganda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo are at the center of an Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 300 people. The attorney says Nalwamba fears arrest or harm from Ugandan authorities because of past political activity. Court records from 2010 describe an incident during the 2001 presidential election in which he was taken from his home and questioned about opposition ties.

Nalwamba is held at a facility operated by GEO Group.

His current attorney says earlier immigration records remain incomplete after prior counsel left the case and some documents were confiscated upon detention. A GEO Group spokesperson referred questions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.