Immigration authorities detained a 59-year-old Sunnyvale resident earlier this month and shuttled her through multiple detention centers in the days that followed, often under severe physical conditions, according to her family.
Alevtina Soboleva was at the airport in Buffalo, New York, on July 20 to board a flight back to the Bay Area after a vacation at Niagara Falls when plainclothes officers approached her for a “documents check,” said Soboleva’s 30-year-old daughter Daria, who was with her at the time.
At the time, the officers did not identify themselves as belonging to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any other immigration agency, Daria Soboleva said.
Her mother was then transported from one detention facility to another, Daria Soboleva said.
“There is no control in this situation with what’s happening,” she said in an interview on Thursday. “She is just moved, and I cannot find her, I cannot speak to her.”
ICE records show that, as of Thursday afternoon, Alevtina is currently in custody at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana. She has been in detention for 10 days.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening on Alevtina Soboleva’s case.
Daria Soboleva, a research scientist at Sunnyvale-based firm Cerebras Systems, said that her mother moved to the United States from Russia in October 2021 to help her settle into her new job.
In 2022, when war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, they decided that it was unsafe to return to Russia. In April 2022, Alevtina Soboleva filed for her asylum application, which is still pending.
“She does not have any criminal record,” Daria Soboleva said Thursday. “She did everything right, and I don’t understand what has happened.”
After officers took custody of Alevtina Soboleva at the Buffalo airport, her daughter could not contact her for four days.
When the two finally spoke, Alevtina Soboleva had been moved to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
“When she was able to speak to me for the first time, she was just crying nonstop,” Daria Soboleva said. “She was so humiliated, she could never imagine being treated like this.”
According to their phone conversation, Alevtina was shackled with handcuffs and chains and placed inside a cage as she was transported from one detention center to another.
The cage, Alevtina recounted to Daria, had very poor air circulation, and when she asked to be let out to breathe fresh air, she was not permitted to do so.
She was refused the use of a bathroom and had to urinate on herself. She also suffered panic attacks and was refused water when she asked for it.
“She was begging them just to wet her lips a little because she had been there for hours,” said Daria. “That wasn’t allowed, too.”
After arriving at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center, she complained of chills and asked for warm clothing, but was not provided any. When a fellow detainee gave her fever medication and a warm hat, authorities at the detention center took them away from her.
Now, Daria can speak with her mother but is worried about her health, given that she already suffers from vertigo.
The family has engaged their attorney as well as the office of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, to expedite the proceedings and bring Alevtina back home.
“My mom is going through this, but I cannot imagine anyone’s mom going through this,” said Daria. “To me, it just sounds like a very, very bad nightmare.”
