Why Did a Judge Order ICE to Release a Colorado Pastor? Habeas Corpus and Immigration Detention
A federal judge's order did not give Edward Nalwamba a visa, asylum, or permanent legal status. It did something narrower: it ended his detention while his immigration case continues. That difference is the heart of the case.
Nalwamba, a 79-year-old retired Ugandan priest, had been held at the Aurora detention center for 13 months. The U.S. District Court of Colorado granted his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, ordering Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release him, according to Westword. He left the facility the following day, carried out by two men who were released alongside him, the Denver Post reported.
A petition that challenges custody, not the deportation order
Habeas corpus is a legal filing that asks a court to review whether a person's detention is lawful. In an immigration case, it does not decide whether someone gets a green card or asylum. It focuses on custody. Nalwamba's petition brought his health, the length of his detention, and the government's ability to remove him before a federal magistrate judge.
Judge Cyrus Y. Chung found that federal officials had not provided any certainty that they could remove Nalwamba to Uganda, the Denver Post reported. That finding supported release. It did not erase the deportation order or resolve his underlying immigration case.
How the case reached a courtroom
Nalwamba came to the United States for a religious conference in 2002 and stayed, fearing retaliation if he returned to Uganda, according to the Denver Post. He applied for asylum that year, but his attorney never filed the application and disappeared with the money, Westword reported. He was arrested and released in 2010 under a supervision order and kept up with regular immigration check-ins in the years that followed.
ICE detained him again in 2025, a move a close friend described as sudden, Westword reported. By the time of his release, his health had deteriorated. He could not stand or walk on his own, and his representatives said he had been unable to get adequate treatment, therapy, or testing for an upper respiratory illness. Guards had taken away his wheelchair, according to the Denver Post.
What the release does not settle
Nalwamba still does not have legal status. His motion to reopen his asylum case is pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals, a process that could take months or years, Westword reported. He could technically be detained again under the deportation order, a possibility that he and his friends still worry about.
The case shows the limited but real role courts can play in immigration detention. A habeas order can force the government to justify continued custody and can lead to release when removal is not foreseeable. It cannot, by itself, grant someone the right to stay. For Nalwamba, the immediate result was freedom from the Aurora facility. The larger question of whether he can remain in the United States remains unresolved.