Keleture in trouble
Jun 20, 2005
FORMER Ugandan national athlete William Keleture (below) risks deportation from the US due to immigration queries that recently had him jailed for two months.
By James Bakama
FORMER Ugandan national athlete William Keleture (below) risks deportation from the US due to immigration queries that recently had him jailed for two months.
A court hearing in Quad City, Iowa, at which Keleture hoped to resolve his residence status was postponed for almost a month after immigration failed to produce a set of fingerprints. The prints are required every 15 months for people without US citizenship.
Keleture, his brother Edward Bitoga, now in the UK, Moses Musonge, John Goville and the late Joseph Ssali were part of Uganda’s strong sprint team in the late eighties.
Keleture left for the US in 1992. In 1994 he moved to Quad City where he has worked at a variety of jobs including as track coach at some area high schools, most recently Pleasant Valley High School.
The Quad City Times reported yesterday that Keleture was denied asylum in 2001 and decided to appeal to avoid deportation.
But his lawyer failed to file documents in support of the appeal and he was detained in January. His wife Theresa vigorously campaigned to have him freed from the Iowa jails.
Politician Jim Nussle helped clear the bureaucratic jam and Keleture was released in March.
Keleture told Quad City Times yesterday that he still has hope of gaining permanent residency in the US despite the delay in the case that has stretched for over a year.
FORMER Ugandan national athlete William Keleture (below) risks deportation from the US due to immigration queries that recently had him jailed for two months.
A court hearing in Quad City, Iowa, at which Keleture hoped to resolve his residence status was postponed for almost a month after immigration failed to produce a set of fingerprints. The prints are required every 15 months for people without US citizenship.
Keleture, his brother Edward Bitoga, now in the UK, Moses Musonge, John Goville and the late Joseph Ssali were part of Uganda’s strong sprint team in the late eighties.
Keleture left for the US in 1992. In 1994 he moved to Quad City where he has worked at a variety of jobs including as track coach at some area high schools, most recently Pleasant Valley High School.
The Quad City Times reported yesterday that Keleture was denied asylum in 2001 and decided to appeal to avoid deportation.
But his lawyer failed to file documents in support of the appeal and he was detained in January. His wife Theresa vigorously campaigned to have him freed from the Iowa jails.
Politician Jim Nussle helped clear the bureaucratic jam and Keleture was released in March.
Keleture told Quad City Times yesterday that he still has hope of gaining permanent residency in the US despite the delay in the case that has stretched for over a year.