This Russian couple spent 4 months in ICE detention with their 1-year-old baby

At least 500 children age three and younger have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since President Trump returned to office in 2025, according to a new analysis between MS NOW and The Marshall Project, based on immigration records obtained by the Deportation Data Project.

Jacob Soboroff met one couple, Alsu and Azat, who fled Russia last year with their then 1-year-old, Amir. They feared that their opposition to the war in Ukraine would land them in prison and their son in an orphanage.

They told Jacob through a translator that they “came here to escape prison”—but instead, they spent four months in detention.

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