GLENDALE, Calif., August 15, 2026 — Alisa Darbinyan has not spoken to another human being outside of federal custody since August 12. Not her husband. Not her lawyer. Not the 95 children in Glendale who call her their violin teacher. For three straight days, the professional musician and music educator has been unreachable — transferred from one Texas immigration detention facility to another while her family fights to get a single judge to hear her bond case.
It started on August 2 at Los Angeles International Airport. Darbinyan and her husband, Haik Abovian — born in the United States, a citizen by birthright — were heading to Hawaii. They never made the flight. A team of ICE agents intercepted them at the terminal, and within minutes Darbinyan was in handcuffs. Since that afternoon, she has passed through the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, Camp East Montana in El Paso, a detention facility in Dilley, Texas, and the Port Isabel Service Processing Center near the Mexican border. Four facilities. Twelve days. Zero court hearings.
What the Arresting Officer Said
The ICE officer who led the arrest gave his name as Waseem. He told the couple that Darbinyan was being taken because she was considered out of status.
“I asked the agent directly whether he had an order from a judge,” Haik said. “He told me no. He said they had a presidential order from Trump to detain people who were out of status, regardless of whether they were criminals, had pending asylum cases or had any other circumstances. Then they took my wife away.”
Haik continued:
“Alisa entered this country legally. She applied for asylum, she has never committed a crime, and she has never missed an appointment. She was traveling domestically with her husband. Since August 12, I have not heard her voice. I do not know whether she is safe, whether she has slept, whether she is receiving proper care or whether she can reach her attorney.”
President Trump’s executive order of January 20, 2025 directed federal agencies to carry out expansive immigration enforcement against noncitizens deemed inadmissible or removable. That same order explicitly provides that detention during proceedings must remain within statutory limits. The family wants ICE and the White House to answer two questions: Did the agent’s claim at LAX reflect official policy? And what specific legal authority was used to justify taking Darbinyan into custody?
Her Record: Spotless
Darbinyan entered the United States through proper legal channels. Her family says she submitted her asylum application before her authorized period of stay expired. She has never been arrested. Never been charged. Never been convicted. She has no deportation order. She has never missed a hearing, a government appointment, or a reporting obligation. On August 2, she had no scheduled meeting with ICE or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Despite all of this, her family says ICE has not produced a single piece of documentation — no judicial warrant, no court order, no custody determination, no Notice to Appear — that identifies the legal basis for keeping her behind bars.
The Bond Request That Keeps Getting Erased
Her attorneys filed for bond while she was still at Adelanto. The request was straightforward: Darbinyan had deep community ties, a clean record, a U.S.-citizen spouse, steady employment, and more than 95 families who could vouch for her character. Under normal circumstances, a judge would have evaluated those facts and rendered a decision.
Instead, ICE moved her 700 miles to El Paso on August 12. The family says the bond proceeding at Adelanto was then canceled or frozen — Darbinyan was no longer within that court’s jurisdictional boundaries. On August 13, she was transferred again. On August 14, once more.
No immigration judge has denied her bond on the merits. Not one. No judge has concluded she is dangerous, a flight risk, or a threat to national security. The case has simply never been heard.
This pattern directly implicates EOIR Policy Memorandum 25-49, which was written to prevent exactly what the family describes. The memorandum mandates that when DHS transfers a detained individual outside the original immigration court’s geographic area, the pending bond request “must remain pending” and should be clerically transferred to the receiving court.
“This is not a request for special treatment. It is a demand for basic due process,” said Artur Hakobyan, the family’s spokesperson.
“ICE detained a violin teacher with no criminal record, moved her from California to three different facilities in Texas in three consecutive days, and left her bond case chasing her across jurisdictions. A pending bond request should not disappear every time ICE puts someone on another plane or bus.”
Hakobyan continued:
“An ICE agent invoked President Trump’s name when Alisa was taken at LAX. President Trump and his administration should now review what is being done in his name. Release Alisa on bond, return her to California and stop moving her before a court can fairly hear her case.”
Silence, Sleep Deprivation, and an Absent Officer
Before the communication blackout began on August 12, Darbinyan described troubling conditions inside Adelanto: chronic sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, and persistent difficulty getting through to her family. She also reported that she could not obtain regular access to the deportation officer assigned to handle her case.
The family says that officer — identified as Officer Garcia — never actually met with Darbinyan during her entire stay at Adelanto. According to information the family received at the facility, Garcia had reportedly been absent from work for approximately 12 days. No one stepped in to take meaningful action on her case before ICE loaded her onto a transport to Texas.
The family is demanding a full investigation into conditions at every facility where Darbinyan has been held, along with immediate verification that she is physically and psychologically safe.
Her transfer to Camp East Montana on August 12 arrived less than a month after Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union published a sweeping report documenting obstacles to family communication, confidential attorney access, and adequate medical care at the Fort Bliss detention site. That report also detailed how repeated inter-facility transfers disrupted legal representation and derailed court proceedings for multiple detainees. While those findings do not prove what Darbinyan experienced during her brief detention there, they make it imperative that the government account for her treatment and confirm she had meaningful access to legal counsel.
There is another complication. Before her arrest, Darbinyan had been receiving ongoing medical treatment following an accident. Her husband has not been able to determine whether that treatment continued at any of the four facilities, whether her condition has deteriorated, or whether her medical records traveled with her through the transfers.
What Alisa Said Before She Went Dark
In her last exchanges with family members, Darbinyan spoke over and over about two things: her husband and the children she teaches.
In a statement communicated through her relatives, Darbinyan said:
“I keep thinking about my students and what they are going to do without me. I am separated from my husband, and now I cannot reach my family. I am asking the public and the government to look carefully at my case and see what ICE has done. I believe this was an illegal detention for no reason. I have never committed a crime, and I am asking for the chance to return to my husband, my students and my life while my immigration case continues.”
Darbinyan is a professional violinist and educator whose students are currently preparing for a November 1 classical concert at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Her family and employer confirm she serves as the primary instructor for more than 95 children.
“I visited Alisa while she was detained in Adelanto,” said Sona Vardanyan, owner of Sonata Music School.
“She was exhausted, frightened and deeply worried about her students. Alisa is not a danger to anyone. She is a dedicated teacher whose students and their families depend on her. They keep asking where she is and when she is coming back. Every transfer takes her farther from her husband, her students and the community that is ready to support her.”
Vardanyan added:
“Alisa teaches children much more than violin. She gives them discipline, confidence, responsibility and stability. Her continued detention is not affecting only one person. It is hurting an entire community of children and families.”
Darbinyan’s published biography records that she began studying violin at age six at Sayat-Nova Music School and went on to graduate from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. She co-founded the Liberta ensemble in 2012, performed in more than 20 cities across eight U.S. states, and has taught at multiple music schools across Southern California. She has appeared alongside internationally recognized musicians including Richard Clayderman, Homayoun Shajarian, and the Siavash Orchestra.
The Family’s Demands
Darbinyan’s family is calling on ICE leadership, the Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, members of Congress, and the Trump administration to act now:
- Release Alisa Darbinyan on reasonable bond while her pending immigration case proceeds.
- Conduct an urgent review of her arrest, continued detention, and repeated transfers, including the legal authority relied upon at LAX and the effect of those transfers on her bond proceedings.
- Return Alisa to California and suspend any further transfers while her bond request and detention review are pending.
- Preserve and transfer her original bond request rather than requiring the process to begin again each time ICE changes her location.
- Provide immediate, reliable, and confidential communication with her husband and attorneys, together with written confirmation of her current physical condition.
- Provide Alisa and her legal representatives with all arrest, custody, charging, and transfer documents, including any administrative warrant, custody determination, Notice to Appear, and transfer records.
“This family is not asking the government to decide Alisa’s entire immigration case through a press release,” Hakobyan said. “We are asking the government to stop moving her, let a judge review the facts and release her on bond. Alisa has a husband, attorneys, employers, students and an entire community prepared to ensure that she attends every proceeding.”
Timeline
- August 2, 2026: ICE detains Alisa at LAX while she is preparing to travel to Hawaii with her U.S.-citizen husband. She is transported to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
- August 2-12: Alisa remains detained in Adelanto. A bond request is filed. The family says she never receives a bond decision on the merits and is unable to consistently meet with an assigned deportation officer.
- August 12: ICE transfers Alisa from Adelanto to Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. This is the last date on which her husband or family has confirmed communication with her.
- August 13: ICE transfers Alisa to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
- August 14: ICE transfers Alisa to the Port Isabel Service Processing Center.
- August 15: Her husband and family remain unable to speak with her. No bond hearing has been completed, and no judge has denied release on the merits.
Public Appeal
The family asks musicians, educators, parents, human-rights organizations, elected officials, members of the Armenian-American community, and concerned members of the public to demand Darbinyan’s immediate release on bond and a halt to any further transfers.
The official public campaign hashtag is: #FreeAlisa
High-resolution photographs, professional performance materials, employment verification, family and community declarations, the detention transfer timeline, and interviews with Darbinyan’s husband, employer, and family spokesperson are available to verified journalists upon request.
Media Contact
Artur Hakobyan
Family Spokesperson
Text Message only: 747-221-7332
artur@thenotar.com