'It's brutal': Colorado Springs man detained at ICE facility for 10 months, separated from four-year-old son

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — A Colorado Springs engineer has been held at the ICE immigration detention center in Aurora since October, 10 months away from his four-year-old son.

Obinna Uzoh, who goes by Obi, emigrated from Africa in 2009 and moved to Colorado Springs five years ago to work as an engineer. Before coming to Colorado Springs, he lived in Vermont and Texas.

"My work visa is still valid until December of 2029," said Uzoh.

An attorney at Joseph & Hall said in a statement the following in a statement:

Those legal avenues include an appeal currently waiting to be heard by the court. But it comes from a long waiting process.

"My immigration bond request was denied and then we decided to go ahead with pursuing my green card since I was already so close to obtaining it before my arrest," said Uzoh.

He had already said he had his green card interview in July of last year.

"I was in direct communication with USCIS before this arrest," said Uzoh.

While waiting in the detention center for a verdict, he said he kept getting notified that his hearings were pushed back.

"My original schedule for my final hearing, which is my green card hearing, was February. About a week before that day, it was pushed to February 9th. Then a week later it was pushed to March 4th," said Uzoh.

At that hearing, he said the judge questioned the "extreme hardship" requirements on the green card I-601 waiver. The waiver forgives things such as unlawful presence, fraud, or specific crimes by proving extreme hardship to a close U.S. family member, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Imm Services website.

“The judge subjectively decided that I didn't meet that bar because Netanna wasn't facing enough hardship. That hardship waiver is based on extreme difficulty or hardship that will be suffered by an immediate relative if I were removed from the country, so she approved my green card but said on the hardship part, you're not eligible for that. You don't meet the bar," Uzoh said, "Which that's what we are appealing now because I do not think that she considered all the facts. Financial, emotional, physical, social, economic, or even aspects of Netanna's development.”

Uzoh said it goes back to standards in Africa, where he is from. His son his albino, and because of that, Uzoh said he could be put in danger if they went back to Africa together.

"Albinos are currently segregated in Africa. They are outcasts. They are currently also being hunted for their parts because they believe that they do have special parts since they are very rare," said Uzoh.

He said feels confident his appeal will have a positive outcome, but until then, he remains at the detention center. His son Netanna is staying with family in Texas. There have been some healthcare needs with Netanna's condition.

"Monitoring him for any skin issues or any other vision challenges, and he has to continuously see specialists, specialists multiple times a year," Uzoh said.

Uzoh's brother, Chukwuma Uzoh, said the family has run into barriers trying to get Netanna the care he needs without his father present.

"In the state of Texas, you can't get help for the child without the biological parent. We've gone to 2 childcare services and they don't want to attend to him because they need some papers signed by biological parent to be able to get that vaccination and medical care to him," Chukwuma Uzoh said.

Medical care like going to the eye doctor. Chukwuma Uzoh said Netanna's eyesight has been getting worse. But with those barriers, it is hard to get an appointment.

"The boy can't see right now. He has to go so close to see what he's trying to see," said Chukwuma.

Netanna also missed a necessary surgery on his tonsils because his father was detained.

"He really needs to get the surgery that was supposed to be done in November of last year to get his tonsils out because he can't sleep. He has a severe sleep apnea. So that can't be done because you need the consent of a biological parent," said Chukwuma.

Netanna's mother passed away in 2024 and Obinna Uzoh is now his only parental guardian.

Uzoh's attorney filed a request to expedite the appeal process so he can take his son to medical appointments. Three months later, Uzoh is still waiting for a resolution.

"It has been prolonged. I'm separated from my son who doesn't have his mom, so he's really suffering," Uzoh said.

The separation has meant missing major milestones in Netanna's life.

"He does question like where is Daddy, why am I not at home, where have I been, why am I not coming to get him when he cries?" Uzoh said.

Milestones like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and most importantly, Netanna's birthday.

“It's ridiculous because I still don't understand why I am being detained for so long," Uzoh said, "We really had plans for a lot of activities for his birthday, but all those were just shelved because of the situation.”

A situation that he said Netanna doesn't understand. Uzoh said he wishes things could be different.

"These milestones are, I believe, what every parent wants to spend with their young kid," Uzoh said.

He said one of the hardest parts of being in the detention center was on Christmas day. He said from the 24th through the 29th, the phones were offline.

ICE was contacted for comment on why the process has taken longer than expected. A response had not been received.

While Uzoh waits, members of his Colorado Springs community have rallied around him. Ernie Rodriguez, a member of the Knights of Columbus alongside Uzoh, said he has been showing up in a simple but meaningful way.

"I go out there as a friend, basically to go mow his yard, take care of his yard, and all that," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said he is happy to keep helping out in any way that he can. He said other members of the Knights of Columbus miss Uzoh's presence.

"One of the key points is unity, and we kind of look at it like a little strand of rope. If you have one little strand, you could break it, but if all of us are united together, it's like a rope then, and you cannot break that rope," said Rodriguez.

Uzoh is not just active in his church. Rodriguez said he would take part in community drives and events.

"We do coat for kids where we hand out new coats to all the kids that need coats for the winter and Obi used to be there," Rodriguez said, "We used to do our food drives. During the holidays we do food baskets and give food to the needy. Obi used to be there. We used to do Special Olympics. Obi used to be there."

And back in Texas, Uzoh's family is trying to hold down the fort. They are hopeful he will return to his son, Netanna, soon.

"Everybody tries to help him too, with taking care of him, getting him what he needs, and making him try to be a happy child at his age without growing up with trauma," said Chukwuma Uzoh.

He said the experience has been traumatizing for everyone involved, especially when it comes to money.

"Everybody tries to help out and do all they can, but it's a very, very heavy financial burden. Everybody chips in. But it's really stretched and strained everybody," said Chukwuma.

Families and friends have since set up a GoFundMe for Uzoh.

Obinna Uzoh, an engineer, said his former employer kept him employed until December. Two months after he was detained. Uzoh said he is extremely grateful to his company and hopes he can go back once he is out.

Uzoh said he will keep fighting every day if it means he can get back home to his son.

"I'm looking for the opportunity to get out of this situation and get reunited with my son as well as my family and my community," said Uzoh.

___

____

Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.