Most of those being held by the federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE are from Latin America, but a few, like 43-year-old Ivan— who asked that we not use his last name, come from Russia. He’s been locked up for 19 months and can’t understand why.
“All my life I was a law-abiding citizen. I don’t have now any criminal records in any country of this world," he says.
Ivan spends his days trying to improve his English -- reading a small dictionary, but it doesn’t tell him how words are pronounced. Almost everyone at the ICE detention center in Farmville is a native speaker of Spanish.
“I have not conversation with native Americans, and I don’t know how it must sound," he explains.
Ivan had studied medicine and landed some lucrative jobs in sales for two big drug firms in the U.S. He had a car, a house, a wife and two kids when he was drafted to fight in Ukraine. His mother was Ukrainian, and he felt too old for battle, so in February of 2023 he left Russia.
He went first to Uzbekistan where he had friends. When Russia pressed that country to expel draft dodgers, he flew to Mexico and followed the rules – applying for an appointment with ICE.
He expected to be admitted to the United States – allowed to apply for a green card and to wait for his family to arrive. Instead, he’s been taken to six different detention centers in Texas, Louisiana and now Virginia. A sign posted at Farmville advises residents to speak up if they have a problem.
“If you have the sense of hungry, if you need medical help, tell any employee. They will hear you," he says.
In fact, Ivan— who is over six feet tall— was hungry. But when he talked to the center’s doctor, she told him he didn’t qualify for bigger portions. He claims to live in a room with more than 80 other men and rarely gets out for exercise. He claims to have spent four months straight in his dormitory.
During that time, he says, some prisoners have suffered mental breakdowns, and diseases spread easily with beds packed close together and bathrooms poorly cleaned.
We spoke with two attorneys from the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Jacqueline Watson, who practices in Texas, is in court almost weekly trying to help people like Ivan.
“There are many, many legal elements needed to prove asylum in the United States. It’s a high bar really," she explains.
And Jeremy McKinney, who’s based in North Carolina, says it’s almost impossible to get people out of detention.
“Parole is in the sole discretion of the Department of Homeland Security. It can be revoked at any time and for any reason.”
You might think a Russian man who trained as a pediatric surgeon would be welcomed to the United States, but McKinney says it’s all about the numbers.
“The white House setaquota, and the Department of Homeland Security is trying to meet its quota.”
Last month, Ivan was taken to Dulles for a flight to Moscow. Because he feared retribution in Russia, he should not have been sent there. He produced a court document that persuaded his guards. Then, last week, he was – again – scheduled to leave.
Watson says he could be shipped off to one of a dozen countries that have agreed to take people being deported.
“South Sudan, Rwanda,Uganda, Ghana, Uzbekistan – not a civil rights beacon," she observes. "Brazil is one of them, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica.”
His first flight to New York was delayed, so he missed his connection and is now back at Farmville. We called there to inquire about plans for Ivan and were referred to a regional ICE office in Richmond. Dozens of calls to that number went unanswered.
