BRING ALISA HOME
Glendale violinist and teacher Alisa Darbinyan is being held in Texas, thousands of miles from her husband, students, and home.
Alisa Darbinyan is a professional violinist and longtime violin teacher at Sonata Music in Glendale.
Since 2022, she has taught more than 95 children in the Los Angeles area and is a member of the Music Teachers’ Association of California. She has performed at the Greek Theatre, Microsoft Theater, and alongside artists including Richard Clayderman and Arkadi Dumikyan.
She lives in Glendale with her husband, Haik Abovian, a U.S. citizen by birth.
On August 2, 2026, Alisa was detained by ICE at Los Angeles International Airport while she and Haik were traveling to Hawaii.
Alisa entered the United States legally and filed for asylum before her authorized stay expired. Her asylum application remains pending. She has no criminal history, has never missed an ICE, USCIS, or court appointment, and has no final removal order. Her family also says she was not shown a judicial warrant or court order when she was detained.
An ICE agent reportedly told Alisa that she was being detained because she was considered "out of status" under the Trump administration's enforcement direction.
A pending bond request
While Alisa was detained at Adelanto, her attorneys filed a request for bond. According to her family, the request remained pending and was never denied.
Before a judge could decide the request, ICE transferred Alisa out of California.
EOIR Policy Memorandum 25-49 addresses pending bond requests when DHS transfers a detained person. The policy provides for a pending request to be transferred to the appropriate court rather than simply ending because the person has been moved.
Alisa's family says the Adelanto bond matter was instead canceled without a hearing or decision, leaving her without a judge to rule on her release.
This needs to be investigated.
Four transfers in four days
ICE has moved Alisa repeatedly across Texas:
August 12: Camp East Montana, El Paso
August 13: Dilley
August 14: Port Isabel
Current: El Valle Detention Facility, Raymondville
Her husband and attorneys have been forced to follow these transfers while Alisa remains thousands of miles from California.
Her family says there have also been significant problems communicating with her. They report going days without knowing where she had been transferred and say Alisa has sometimes been unable to call her husband, relatives, or attorneys.
Her family reports that Alisa has experienced sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures, difficulty accessing food through commissary, and difficulty obtaining assistance from facility staff.
They are also concerned about her medical care. Alisa was receiving treatment for injuries from an earlier accident, and her family fears that treatment may have been interrupted by her repeated transfers.
At Adelanto, her family says her assigned ICE officer was absent for approximately twelve days and that staff suggested she request another officer.
These conditions and allegations should be independently investigated.
A teacher who should be home
Alisa was preparing her students for a November 1 concert at the Alex Theatre when she was detained.
Her students are in Glendale.
Her husband is in Glendale.
Her home, career, attorneys, and community are in California.
Yet Alisa is now being held in South Texas.
Her family and attorneys are urgently seeking her release and return to California.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR
ICE Breakers is calling on Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Adam Schiff, and other California representatives to demand answers about Alisa's detention and advocate for her return to California.
We are asking officials to investigate:
Why Alisa was detained at LAX.
The legal basis for her continued detention.
What happened to her pending bond request.
Whether her bond request was properly transferred following her move from Adelanto.
Why she was transferred through four facilities in four days.
Her access to attorneys and communication with her husband.
Her medical treatment and detention conditions.
We are also calling on journalists to independently investigate Alisa's case and the circumstances surrounding her detention, bond request, transfers, medical care, and access to counsel.
Alisa has a pending asylum case, no reported criminal history, a U.S.-citizen husband, established employment, legal representation, and deep ties to the Glendale community.
Her family is asking for one thing:
Bring Alisa home.
TAKE ACTION
Contact Governor Gavin Newsom (916) 445-2841 by mail at 1021 O Street, Suite 9000, Sacramento, CA 95814, or online through the Official Governor Contact Page.
and Senator Adam Schiff (818) 303-3841 Emailing at this link: Email Adam Schiff
and ask them to intervene on Alisa's behalf and demand answers from ICE and DHS.
Share Alisa's story with journalists, immigration attorneys, community organizations, teachers, musicians, and elected officials.
Alisa will not disappear into the detention system.
Bring Alisa home