For A Detained Asylum Seeker
We received a request from a community partner agency, working with an individual who has been detained by ICE. Below are the actions that they are requesting from the community. We wanted to share the request with you in case you are moved to take any of these actions on his behalf.
Sincerely,
Sharon Hall-Smith
Ways to help Pastor Steven Tendo
For individuals who have heard of Pastor Steven's case and want to support him(but don't know him personally), please contact the offices of the VT congressional delegation to express concern, and write letters expressing your concern and alarm to the ICE Boston Field Office at the address below: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Boston Field Office 1000 District Avenue Burlington, MA 01803. There are no specific instructions for how these letter look.
We've set up a GoFundMe to support Pastor Steven's living expenses, phone access from prison and other needs while he is detained and thus unable to work.
Pastor Steven will have a hearing on Tuesday, 2/10 at 3:00pm in US District Court in New Hampshire. We will post information here. His legal team feels it would be helpful to have supporters be represented in some way, although we believe the actual hearing will happen via video conference.
Pastor Steven is currently being held at the Strafford County Jail at 266 County Farm Road, Dover NY. Some folks are organizing to keep vigil there, if you wish to join them in support of Steven, please do so, but remember to stay safe, and stay peaceful.
Call or write to your elected officials to thank them for supporting Pastor Steven and urge them to use all of their resources to push for his immediate release.
If you’re outside Vermont and you’d like to contact your elected representatives asking for help in securing Pastor Steven’s release, you can look up contact information for the US House and US Senate here.
In Vermont, contact information is:
● Sen. Bernie Sanders
○ DC Office: 202-224-5141
○ Burlington Office: 802-862-0697
● Sen. Peter Welch
○ DC Office: 202-224-4242
○ Burlington Office: 802-863-2525
● Rep. Becca Balint
○ DC Office: 202-225-4115
○ Burlington Office: 802-652-2450
Migrant Justice in Vermont is coordinating a large support effort for Pastor Steven, and it would be good to hook up with their team rather than reinventing the wheel. We’ll post links when we get them.
A core organizing team is maintaining contact with Pastor Steven’s legal team, and Pastor Steven himself when possible. We are updating him with all the love and support that is happening on his behalf.
On behalf of Pastor Steven, we thank you.