A 59-year-old Russian woman seeking asylum in the United States was allegedly detained in chains at Buffalo Niagara International Airport and subsequently moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, her daughter has stated. Alevtina Soboleva, who arrived in the U.S. in October 2021 on a six-month visa to visit her daughter in California, applied for asylum after Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, according to immigration attorney Regina Jacobson.
Soboleva was returning from a vacation in Niagara Falls with her daughter, Daria Soboleva, on July 20 when she was detained. Daria Soboleva told KRON that airport officers initially called it a "document check" but then placed her mother in chains. "They did not just put the handcuffs on her. They also put chains on her," Daria Soboleva said, adding that her mother reported the chains were causing significant pain and that requests to loosen them were denied.
Jacobson stated that individuals seeking asylum often receive documentation authorizing their presence in the U.S., but the current administration's stance allows for the detention of those whose "local presence in the United States expired." The attorney noted that arresting asylum seekers with pending applications, particularly those who have spoken out against their home countries' policies, is becoming increasingly common. "People cannot go back to their countries because they are seeking asylum and they are in danger. Alevtina can't go to prison if she goes to Russia," Jacobson explained.
Soboleva's daughter created a website to aid her mother's case, stating that deportation would send a 59-year-old woman back to a country at war, where criticizing the conflict is a crime and seeking political asylum in the U.S. is viewed with hostility by authorities. Soboleva, who has no criminal record, holds a valid work permit, a California REAL ID, and active medical insurance. She has also been attending English as a Second Language classes since 2023.
According to her daughter, Soboleva's health has deteriorated while in detention at a facility in southern Louisiana. She reportedly suffers from a progressive neurological disorder that affects her balance and coordination, a condition diagnosed before her detention that doctors predicted could lead to her requiring a wheelchair within a few years. While in detention, Soboleva reported feeling too unsteady to walk across a room without support. She also has high cholesterol, is prediabetic, and has hearing loss in her left ear.
Soboleva was allegedly moved from the Buffalo airport to the Mahoning County Jail in Ohio for an overnight stay before being transferred to the Louisiana facility, her third location in three days. On July 23, Jacobson was informed that Soboleva had been deported, though ICE records indicated she was still in custody. Soboleva was granted her first phone call on July 24 and a video call the following day, during which she appeared visibly ill, suffering from a fever without medication, and lacking warm clothing and her glasses. "My mother followed every rule this country gave her. She has spent a week being moved, chained and hidden from court that is supposed to hear her. All we are asking if that the system see her - and send her home," Daria wrote.
Soboleva and her daughter are seeking her release on an immigration bond pending her removal hearing. "She's very, very, very responsible, and I'm responsible. So to me, this is a shock," Daria Soboleva said. "I don't know what happened because we did everything right based on all the procedural things that we were advised [with] by the government. I don't understand what happened."