Akim is back with the community that supports him

It's been a difficult, depressing and confusing nine months for Henry Akim Gama.

Locked up in an immigration detention center in Aurora, the days must have drifted by agonizingly slowly.

A prisoner without a sentence. Most criminals in jails and prisons have sentences where they can keep track of their time, scratching off the days as they target a release date.

For Akim, he was not a criminal, and he did not have a sentence. There was a painful mystery of not knowing when he would be released or deported. So he waited. And hoped.

On May 15, Akim was finally released. Now he will wait again. This time the wait is filled with hope that he will be granted political asylum and be allowed to remain in the U.S.

Once trapped in an extremely flawed immigration system, Akim now has a chance. That's all his supporters wanted. Yes, it will be disappointing if he isn't granted political asylum, but he has been granted hope with his release and the reopening of his case.

A native a Zimbabwe, Akim has a powerful case for asylum. His home country is rife with political turmoil that is growing more tumultuous by the day. It was the country's latest volatile situation that grabbed the judge's attention and led to the reopening of the case.

Akim has received overwhelming support from this community. That also grabbed the judge's attention. That support came from the impact he's made on this community since arriving here more than seven years ago. He has never taken his time in the United States for granted. He's embraced his role as an African ambassador.

Akim's story, which includes escaping a war-ravaged country where his father was killed under mysterious circumstances, has become well known in the region. The support he's received and his highly publicized quest for freedom has left him humbled and even a bit embarrassed, according to friends.

Akim's current freedom is just the latest chapter of his story.

We do believe he should be allowed to remain in the U.S.; however, for now, we appreciate that Akim is free and the wheels of his immigration case are moving again.

It's nice to see that Akim is back with the community he has always embraced, and once again part of that same community that supports him.

Akim is free and among friends. Hopefully, the rest of the story turns out this well.