Communication Blackout and Surveillance Concerns Mount as ICE Detains Glendale Violinist, Cuts Off Family Contact
GLENDALE, Calif., August 15, 2026 — For three consecutive days, the family of Alisa Darbinyan has been unable to make any form of contact with the detained violinist and music instructor. No phone call, no message, no confirmation of her location or wellbeing. The total communication shutdown began on August 12, the same day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved Darbinyan from a California detention center to a facility in El Paso, Texas — the first of three rapid transfers across the state that have left her family, her attorneys, and her employer completely in the dark.
Darbinyan, who teaches violin to more than 95 students in Glendale, was initially seized by ICE agents at Los Angeles International Airport on August 2 while she prepared to board a domestic flight to Hawaii with her husband, Haik Abovian, a United States citizen by birth. The arresting officer reportedly told the couple he was operating under a presidential directive from Donald Trump to detain individuals deemed out of status — without regard to pending asylum applications, clean records, or individual circumstances.
Since that day, the case has raised pressing questions about digital communication rights in detention, the use of inter-facility transfers to disrupt legal proceedings, and the degree to which detainees can be effectively isolated from the outside world.
The Airport Encounter
An ICE officer who gave his name as Waseem approached Darbinyan and Abovian at LAX with a team of agents. He informed them Darbinyan was being placed in custody for being 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 broadly enforce immigration laws against individuals considered inadmissible or removable. The same order specifies that detention during proceedings must stay within statutory limits. The family is demanding that ICE and the White House clarify whether the agent’s statements at LAX reflected actual policy and identify the precise legal authority behind Darbinyan’s detention.
Legal Background: Lawful Entry, Asylum Filed, No Criminal Record
Darbinyan arrived in the United States through authorized channels and, as her family maintains, submitted her asylum application before her permitted stay elapsed. She has no criminal record of any kind, no removal order, and has never failed to report to an immigration hearing or government appointment. She had no scheduled meeting with ICE or USCIS before her arrest.
Her family says that to this day, ICE has not produced a judicial warrant, court order, custody determination, Notice to Appear, or any other document that identifies the specific legal basis for her continued confinement.
Three Transfers in Three Days Derailed the Bond Request
While held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, Darbinyan’s attorneys submitted a request for her release on bond. Before a judge could weigh in on the merits, ICE transported her more than 700 miles to Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas on August 12.
According to the family, the Adelanto bond proceeding was then either canceled or stalled because Darbinyan was no longer within that court’s geographic jurisdiction. She was moved again on August 13, this time to Dilley, Texas, and again on August 14 to the Port Isabel Service Processing Center.
No immigration judge has ruled against Darbinyan’s bond on its merits. No judge has determined she poses any risk to public safety, is likely to flee, or raises national security issues.
The family points to EOIR Policy Memorandum 25-49, which was created specifically to address this kind of scenario. The memorandum directs that when DHS transfers a detainee outside the original immigration court’s area, the pending bond request “must remain pending” and must be clerically forwarded to the correct 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.”
Inside Detention: Sleep Deprivation, Extreme Temperatures, and a Missing Officer
In the last messages Darbinyan was able to get through to her family before going silent, she reported sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, and major obstacles to contacting relatives. She also said she could not consistently reach the deportation officer assigned to her case.
Her family says an Adelanto deportation officer identified as Officer Garcia never once met with Darbinyan during her stay at the facility. According to information received at Adelanto, the officer had reportedly been absent from work for roughly 12 days. No replacement officer took any substantive action on her custody or transfer situation before she was shipped to Texas.
The family demands a formal investigation into conditions at every facility where Darbinyan has been held and immediate verification of her current physical and psychological state.
Darbinyan’s August 12 transfer to Camp East Montana came less than one month after Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union released a major report documenting significant obstacles to family communication, confidential attorney access, and adequate medical care at the Fort Bliss detention site. That report also documented how repeated transfers disrupted legal representation and court proceedings. While those broader findings do not establish what Darbinyan personally experienced during her brief time there, they substantially amplify the urgency of confirming her access to counsel and communication.
The family also notes that Darbinyan had been receiving medical treatment following an accident prior to her arrest. Her husband has been unable to confirm whether that treatment has continued, whether her condition has worsened, or whether her medical records followed her through the successive transfers.
A Musician’s Plea
In her final exchanges with relatives, Darbinyan spoke frequently about her husband and the children who study under her.
Through a statement relayed by her family, 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 rehearsing for a November 1 classical concert at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Her family and employer say she is responsible for the musical education of 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 professional biography states she began studying violin at age six at Sayat-Nova Music School and later graduated from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan. She co-founded the Liberta ensemble in 2012, toured more than 20 cities across eight U.S. states, and has taught at several Southern California music schools. She has shared the stage with internationally recognized artists including Richard Clayderman, Homayoun Shajarian, and the Siavash Orchestra.
The Family’s Demands
Darbinyan’s family is directing the following demands at ICE leadership, the Department of Homeland Security, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, members of Congress, and the Trump administration:
- 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 of Events
- 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 calls on musicians, teachers, parents, human-rights organizations, elected officials, members of the Armenian-American community, and all 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
