Shelburne, Vermont — A Ugandan pastor and health worker arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents outside his workplace is now being denied critical medication for his Type 2 diabetes, his lawyer says, triggering outrage across Vermont and beyond, reports indicate.
Steven Tendo, who reports add, is an asylum seeker who has lived in Vermont since 2021, was suddenly detained Wednesday by ICE agents and served with a final order of removal. He is currently incarcerated at Strafford County Corrections in Dover, New Hampshire.
According to his attorney, Chris Worth, Tendo has not received Metformin, the medication he requires daily to manage his diabetes — despite authorities being repeatedly informed of his condition.
“The government has been notified continuously,” Worth said Friday. “Despite numerous emails, calls and communications since his detention, nothing has happened.”
The arrest — carried out two days before Tendo’s scheduled ICE check-in — has sparked widespread condemnation from elected leaders, faith groups, and the medical community, who describe the action as part of an increasingly aggressive federal immigration crackdown.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders’ office confirmed it has intervened, contacting Strafford County Corrections directly.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure his safety, get him the medications he needs, and return him safely home to Vermont,” Sanders said in a statement.
ICE did not respond to media inquiries Friday evening. Strafford County Corrections said only Superintendent Chris Brackett is authorized to comment and would not be available until Monday.
Tendo is a licensed nursing assistant at the University of Vermont Medical Center, which issued a blistering statement Wednesday calling for his “immediate release.” The hospital warned that his detention is causing “real harm in our communities and our health care system.”
All three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation said they were “horrified” by the arrest.
In his asylum claim, Tendo said he was imprisoned by Ugandan authorities for teaching young people about their political rights.
ICE, however, says a Department of Justice immigration judge denied Tendo’s asylum case in 2019 and ordered his removal that same year.
As outrage grows, advocates warn that denying a detainee essential medication could put his life at risk, raising urgent questions about accountability inside the U.S. immigration detention system.
