COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A Colorado Springs community is rallying behind an Iranian asylum seeker who was detained by immigration authorities.
They are asking questions about why Shabnam Maleki was detained earlier this month.
News5 spoke with her friends and a member of Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
"Her ability to connect with a lot of people... amazing," said Tom, a friend of Maleki.
Tom says he has known Maleki for less than a year, but her energy and joy quickly made her part of his family.
"She is full of energy. She's got card games she plays... It's the game we want to play now," he added.
Matthew Capone, the lead pastor at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church, says, however, Maleki's path to Colorado Springs wasn't a smooth ride.
"She grew up in a Muslim family in Iran, and as an adult, she came to learn about Jesus Christ," Capone said.
Capone says that's why Maleki fled Iran for the United States in pursuit of religious freedom. In Colorado Springs, he says Maleki found a new faith community.
"(Maleki) sat down with some of the elders at the church and shared her story of becoming a Christian. It's not very often that the elders are in tears," Capone added.
Tom says his family also invited her to family events, such as Thanksgiving and a birthday party. He says he was expecting Maleki to be at their Fourth of July celebration.
But he says Maleki never showed up. He says his family learned the shocking news after failed calls.
"She had been taken... but we didn't know it was local police or if it was the ICE," he said.
For several days, he says he tried to find her whereabouts. They eventually located her at the ICE detention center in Aurora.
News5 called the detention center on Friday and was able to confirm this information with the ICE facility.
Since then, Tom says he has sent her letters to let her know she is not alone.
According to him, Maleki has filed an asylum application and has work authorization in the U.S.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement says Maleki's visa expired three years ago.
ICE says officers arrested Maleki on July 3. She entered the country on May 29, 2022, through New York City and overstayed the terms of her visa on August 13 of that same year.
Church leaders say she will appear in front of an immigration judge on July 21.
News5 asked ICE to confirm the date. It says it could only comment that she will remain in ICE custody until she goes in front of the judge as part of her removal proceedings.
We also checked both Colorado and Federal court records to see if Maleki had cases against her. Nothing showed when we put in her name.
Capone says he and Tom are working with a local immigration attorney to support her legal process and hope she will be released soon.
"We've got to do everything we can... to keep her getting transferred back to Iran," Tom said.
This is a developing story. We will continue to update it as more information becomes available.
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