Ilia, a 24-year-old Russian dissident, faces prolonged detention in the U.S. after fleeing persecution in his homeland, despite winning his asylum case.
Ilia, a 24-year-old pro-democracy activist, recently escaped a perilous situation in Russia, only to find himself in a detention facility in the United States. He believed that the U.S. would offer him refuge from the oppressive regime he fled, but instead, he was taken into custody upon arrival.
“I fled Russia because of increasingly harsh laws, because of a government that started persecuting me for my political views and my sexual orientation,” Ilia explains. “I believed the United States would help me.”
Ilia’s activism intensified following the arrest of prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny in January 2021. Outraged by the government’s actions, he participated in nationwide protests and distributed “Free Navalny” flyers in Krasnodar, the southern Russian city where he was studying at university. The government’s response to these protests was severe, with thousands detained and many subjected to violence by law enforcement. Tragically, Navalny died under suspicious circumstances in a Russian prison camp in February 2024.
By that time, Ilia had already fled Russia, having received threats from Russian intelligence officials. As a nonbinary individual, he faced heightened risks under Putin’s increasingly repressive laws, where simply existing as he does could lead to persecution or imprisonment.
Ilia made his way to Mexico, meticulously following the asylum process. He spent eight months near the border, waiting for a CBP One appointment. In May 2024, when he finally arrived for his scheduled appointment, he was unexpectedly taken into custody and placed in detention at a facility in Louisiana notorious for its abusive conditions.
“I applied for asylum because I believed the U.S. would help me,” Ilia recounts. “But once I was sent to Winn Correctional Center in Louisiana, I faced horrible treatment. The way officers treat detainees is awful. They yell at them, sometimes go as far as to discriminate, make racist remarks, and even subject detainees to sexual abuse.” Despite filing multiple complaints during his year-long detention, Ilia reports that they have gone unanswered.
Although Ilia was detained before the Trump administration took office, he has experienced the effects of its hardline immigration policies firsthand. In March 2025, he won his asylum case after an immigration judge reviewed 900 pages of evidence, including threats from Russian intelligence and letters of support from witnesses to his activism. At this juncture, Ilia should have been released from detention and allowed to start rebuilding his life in the U.S. However, the Trump administration has continued to deny his release.
Ilia has no criminal history and poses no threat to his community. His asylum case was granted based on the fact that he was targeted for advocating the very democratic ideals of free speech that the United States was founded upon. Yet, he continues to endure unnecessary suffering, even after being deemed worthy of protection.
“The situation [in the detention centers] has gotten worse,” Ilia states, noting that the facility where he is held has been operating at maximum capacity since the Trump administration took office. “People have started to realize there’s no way out, that they’re just waiting here to be deported, and they’re losing their minds.”
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