Bay Area asylum-seeker returns home after nearly a month in ICE detention

After nearly a month in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, Alevtina Soboleva and her daughter emerged through the doors at San Francisco International Airport Sunday morning.

"It's been really hard for both of us. I'm glad we made it home," her daughter, Daria, said.

The 59-year-old Russian asylum-seeker from Sunnyvale arrived in the Bay Area two days after being released from a federal facility in Louisiana.

Soboleva was detained on July 20 at the Buffalo airport as she and her daughter prepared to fly home from a trip to Niagara Falls.

Daria said immigration officers stopped her mother before their flight and took her into custody, despite her asylum application still being under review.

For days, Daria did not know where her mother was. She said Soboleva was held in a cage and denied water and bathroom access.

"She was crying and my heart was breaking because she was very scared," Daria said.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that Soboleva "is an illegal alien from Russia who was admitted to the United States lawfully in 2021 but failed to depart the country in the required time frame." 

"Any allegations of poor medical care and inability to contact family are false," the Department of Homeland Security said.

Soboleva came to the U.S. on a visitor visa. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, she applied for asylum.

On Wednesday, she appeared before an immigration judge who set her bond at $10,000.

Bill Hing, professor of law and migration at the University of San Francisco, said Soboleva has a compelling case.

"The rule of law says that if you have a one-in-10% chance of being persecuted, you should be granted asylum. That's only a 10% chance and so based on that, I believe that she will be granted asylum," he said.

Soboleva's detention, he said, should serve as a warning to other immigrants who may be considering air travel, both internationally and domestically. 

For Soboleva and her daughter, the immediate focus is much simpler: tea, a warm blanket, and some rest.

"I'm hopeful. I'm very grateful for everything that for all the help that we had so far, we have loads of her friends waiting for her," Daria said.