'She was begging them': Daughter fights for Sunnyvale mother detained by ICE
Daughter pleads for mother's release after ICE detainment
A Sunnyvale woman is fighting for the release of her 59-year-old mother, an asylum seeker detained by ICE at a New York airport and transferred to Louisiana.
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - A 59-year-old Sunnyvale woman's bedroom sits empty after she was detained by immigration officers on July 20 while returning from a vacation in New York State.
What we know:
Alevtina Soboleva had traveled with her daughter, Daria, to fulfill a childhood dream of visiting Niagara Falls. However, when they went to the Buffalo airport to return home to California, they were stopped by several people in plain clothes, and Soboleva was detained.
"They said my mom does not have legal status in the U.S.," Daria Soboleva said. The Soboleva's called her attorney from the airport. "The attorney said she has a pending asylum, do you know about that? They just ignored that."
Soboleva's daughter has spent days trying to bring her mother home. She watched as her mother was transferred from New York to Ohio and ultimately to Louisiana, thousands of miles away from where they live and nowhere near her homeland of Russia. She built a website: BringMyMomHome.com to bring more attention to Soboleva's case.
Daria says her mother has been applying for asylum since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out and has done everything by the book.
Daria now worries her mother will become severely ill, noting that Soboleva reports lacking access to medications, water, and other necessities.
"They did not let her use the bathroom, and she told me at some point she had to pee on herself," Daria said. "She was begging them."
Under a new Trump administration rule that went into effect this week, asylum officers can now bypass interviews and send applications straight to immigration court to clear a massive case backlog, a move advocates fear will lead to more rejections.
"If you look just back to the Obama administration, 25% of asylum seekers were being approved," said Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College. "Currently under the Trump administration, it's closer to 2%."
Behind many of those thousands of people are families waiting for answers, including Daria, who continues advocating for her mother.
"I’m trying everything I can to help my mom," Daria said. "I’m talking to her and making sure she doesn’t feel hopeless."
We reached out to ICE for the status of Soboleva's case but have not heard back.
What's next:
Soboleva is expected to appear in court Aug. 12, more than 20 days after she was detained. Meanwhile, her family awaits to see what is next.
The Source: ICE documents, interview with Daria Soboleva