bringmymomhome.com

Sunnyvale, California · A-Number A240031600

Day 9 in ICE detention · since July 20, 2026

My mother did everything right.
Bring her home.

Alevtina Soboleva, 59 — an asylum seeker from Sunnyvale, California, with no criminal record — was detained at the Buffalo airport on July 20 and moved through three facilities in under three days. She is sick, has had no confidential call with her attorney, and her case still does not appear in the immigration court system — so her bond request cannot even be filed.

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The first interview

First interview with Daria Soboleva Coming soon — this space is reserved
Reserved · statement from legal counsel
Reserved · voices from her community

Who she is

Her story

My mother, Alevtina Soboleva, is 59 years old. She came to the United States lawfully in October 2021 and applied for political asylum in April 2022. That application has been pending ever since — and she has been fully compliant at every step.

She built a quiet, careful life in Sunnyvale, California. She holds a valid work permit, a California REAL ID, and active medical insurance. Since 2023 she has been an ESL student at Mission College in Santa Clara, learning English one class at a time. She has no criminal record of any kind — no arrests, no charges, no convictions.

She lives with me — her daughter, Daria, a lawful permanent resident and Head Research Scientist at Cerebras Systems. Our home is her home, and I am prepared to take custody of her the moment she is released.

On July 20, she was stopped at the Buffalo airport before her flight home by three plain-clothes officers who called it a document check. No documents were requested. She has not been home since.

What happened

9 days. Three facilities. No court record.

  1. July 20 Buffalo, New York

    Detained at the airport before her flight home by three plain-clothes officers who called it a document check. No documents were requested. The family was told she would stay in Buffalo a couple of days and could then transfer to California — that there would be no handcuffs, and that mother and daughter would be able to talk.

  2. July 21 Mahoning County Jail, Ohio

    Moved overnight. The family learned of the transfer only from ICE's online locator. Staff took the family's number and promised a call in a few hours. None was permitted.

  3. July 22 Basile, Louisiana

    Moved again, by air, to the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center — her third facility in under three days. Her attorney entered an appearance (Form G-28).

  4. July 23 Staged for a removal flight

    She waited half a day at an airport before being returned to Basile. In a written email, a facility official told her attorney she was deported — while ICE's own locator showed her in custody at Basile. The office of Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) engages.

  5. July 24 First phone call

    Four days after her detention, her first call with her daughter. Congressional staff confirm in writing that she appears on ICE's locator while no record of her case exists in the immigration court's public system.

  6. July 25 First video contact

    She is visibly ill — a fever with no medication, no warm clothing against the facility's cold, and no glasses, which she needs to read forms or use the phone system.

  7. July 26 Locked out of court

    Her bond motion is ready but cannot be filed: six days after her detention, her case still does not appear in the immigration court system. She has had no confidential call with her attorney.

  8. The last stop Sunnyvale, California — home

    Not yet.

In their words

What they said — and what happened

What officials said
“A document check.” — Officers at the Buffalo airport, July 20
What happened

No documents were ever requested. She was taken into custody before her flight home.

What officials said
“A couple of days” in Buffalo, then a transfer to California. — What the family was told, July 20
What happened

Overnight to a county jail in Ohio. Then, by air, to Louisiana — roughly 2,000 miles from home.

What officials said
A call to the family “in a few hours.” — Jail staff, July 21
What happened

No call was permitted. Her first phone call home came four days after she was detained.

What officials said
She “was deported.” — A facility official, in a written email to her attorney, July 23
What happened

ICE's own online locator showed her in custody at Basile, Louisiana, the entire time.

A windowless cell “the size of a small bathroom” — where she suffered panic attacks, in handcuffs and chains that officers declined to loosen.
Alevtina's own account, from her calls of July 24–25
My mother followed every rule this country gave her. She has spent a week being moved, chained, and hidden from the court that is supposed to hear her. All we are asking is that the system see her — and send her home.
— Daria Soboleva, her daughter

Current concerns

What she is facing right now

Her firsthand account

In her calls of July 24–25, she described being held for hours in vehicles and aircraft with restroom access and drinking water refused, and being unable to eat for her first three days in custody.

Medical neglect

She is sick with a fever and a severe sore throat and is receiving no medication. Warm clothing and painkillers given to her by other detainees were confiscated by staff. She is without her glasses, which she needs to read forms or use the phone system.

No attorney access

Six days into her detention, she has had no confidential consultation with her legal counsel.

Locked out of court

Her case does not appear in the immigration court system, so a bond request cannot be filed — while the risk of another no-notice transfer, and of deportation to Russia, the very danger underlying her asylum claim, remains.

The family asks ICE to

Five things — none of them extraordinary

  1. Provide immediate medical evaluation and treatment, and basic necessities: medication, warm clothing, and her glasses.

  2. Ensure uninterrupted, confidential access between Ms. Soboleva and her legal counsel.

  3. Enter her case into the immigration court system so her bond request can be heard — without further transfers.

  4. Transfer her to California, where her attorney, family, and support network are located.

  5. Exercise prosecutorial discretion to release her into her daughter's custody while her asylum case proceeds.

How to help

Two ways to stand with her

For everyone

Share this page. And if you know Alevtina — as a neighbor, a classmate, a fellow student at Mission College, or a member of her community — a short letter of support strengthens her file.

outreach@bringmymomhome.com

Send a letter of support

Letters are collected by her family and shared with her legal team.

For press

Interviews with Daria Soboleva and legal counsel are available. The press kit includes the press release, fact sheet, detailed timeline, quote sheet, backgrounder, and nine approved family photographs with captions.

Danni McInnis
+1 (209) 224-9295
media@bringmymomhome.com

Download press kit Contact the media line

Facts on this page are drawn from the family's fact sheet, updated July 28, 2026.