Sen. Hickenlooper compares ICE treatment to "low-rent form of terrorism" after Colorado priest's release

A few days after fellow detainees carried 78-year-old Edward Nalwamba out of ICE custody, the Ugandan priest is trying to understand what happened to his health during 13 months in detention.

Nalwamba, who was released Tuesday following a federal judge's order, says he entered the GEO-operated detention facility able to walk and exercise. By the time he was released, he could no longer walk without assistance.

CBS Colorado captured two fellow detainees physically carrying Nalwamba to his waiting ride. Nalwamba says GEO staff wouldn't allow him to use a wheelchair beyond the facility's gate.

"I appreciated those young men," Nalwamba told CBS Colorado. "They didn't even give me a chance to say thank you."

After his release, Sen. John Hickenlooper posted "there is no excuse for this cruelty" on X. 

Hickenlooper's office confirmed to CBS Colorado Thursday night that the senator plans to meet with Nalwamba on Friday.

Nalwamba has no criminal history. ICE has cited immigration violations, not criminal charges, as the basis for his detention. 

On Wednesday, Nalwamba visited Denver Health, where he underwent bloodwork, a chest X-ray and testing for tuberculosis. His tuberculosis test results were still pending when CBS Colorado spoke with him.

Nalwamba says he experienced a persistent cough and other health problems during his detention. He described the medical treatment he received inside GEO as sporadic and inconsistent.

"Sometimes I had to send messages everywhere to say, please, I need care, I need medication," Nalwamba said.

During Wednesday's appointment, Nalwamba said doctors collected blood and sputum samples. He said a physician told him his lungs appeared clear in the X-ray but wanted to investigate a small finding further.

"They want to make sure that they have checked everything. I wish GEO would do the same," he said.

Concerns about tuberculosis at the Aurora facility had already prompted scrutiny from state health officials and Hickenlooper. 

The Adams County Health Department confirmed a case of active tuberculosis at GEO in June. In August, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit seeking to compel GEO to cooperate with a state investigation into possible exposure at the facility.     

Nalwamba claims a sick detainee was placed in his unit in early June and says he developed respiratory symptoms shortly afterward. It has not been confirmed whether his illness was connected to that detainee or the confirmed tuberculosis case.

The senator says members of his staff visited the facility before Nalwamba was released and received assurances that staff would provide a wheelchair all the way to his ride.

Instead, Nalwamba says staff brought him to the facility's gate in a wheelchair but would not allow him to take it any farther. Vehicles were also prohibited from approaching the gate, leaving him without a way to reach his ride without assistance.

Fellow detainees stepped in and carried him.

"I felt joy and relief that he's out, but I could not understand why there wasn't a wheelchair," Hickenlooper told CBS Colorado on Thursday. "He's lost 30 pounds. He walked in. He can't walk now. The guy is almost 79 years old."

The senator says GEO has not explained why staff failed to follow through on the promise made to his office.

"It's hard to see how can we improve the situation there when it seems like a certain level of cruelty is intentional, that they want people to self-deport; therefore they want to make them miserable," Hickenlooper said.

"They want the misery of one person to be known by the others," he continued. "It's like a low-rent form of terrorism to make people so scared that they will self-deport."

Hickenlooper says he can't make those changes alone. He believes Congress needs to establish stricter rules for ICE detention facilities.

"Congress has to take away that power from the president, has to be explicit that ICE no longer has the right to run these detention facilities the way they've been running them," he said.

Hickenlooper says he plans to return to GEO in the coming weeks to examine conditions inside.

CBS Colorado has contacted the Department of Homeland Security seeking answers about Nalwamba's medical treatment and the circumstances surrounding his release.

In response, DHS defended Nalwamba's detention, saying he legally entered the United States in 2002 but overstayed his visa and has been under a final deportation order since 2010.

"On October 20, ICE was forced to release Nalwamba after an activist judge ordered his release. He remains in the country illegally," a DHS spokesperson said.

The statement did not address CBS Colorado's questions about Nalwamba's medical treatment or why he was not allowed to use a wheelchair beyond the facility's gate.

In an earlier statement from June, DHS said detainees receive comprehensive medical care, including access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency services.

His immigration case remains unresolved, and Nalwamba says he has returned to the same type of federal supervision he was under before his arrest.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding his health and immigration status, Nalwamba says he is grateful to be free. But his thoughts remain with those still inside.

"They forget they are dealing with human beings," he said.