A Ukrainian immigrant in San Diego released this week from federal detention said she’s still distressed and unsure of her future.
In an interview with KPBS, Viktoriia Bulavina described the circumstances she and several other women experienced while detained in the basement of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse in downtown San Diego.
Local elected officials and faith leaders said Thursday that Bulavina's account of what she experienced is consistent with what they have witnessed at the federal building.
And while there have been several reports about people’s experiences in holding rooms in San Diego, from either themselves, their attorneys, or relatives, Bulavina’s first-hand experience is shedding light on the controversial conditions often hidden or denied by immigration officials.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Viktor Korol, Bulavina’s husband and a U.S. citizen, watched her fidget with the long sleeves of her black shirt as he translated for her.
“Viktoriia, says, ‘I’m distressed. I can’t, like, focus. I still can’t get why I have found myself in this situation and what’s gonna be next. It’s still scary and disorienting,’” Korol said.
Bulavina said she arrived in the U.S. three years ago under a humanitarian program for people fleeing the war in Ukraine. She is currently in the final stages of applying to be a permanent resident.
She was arrested last week, immediately after a green card interview and released Tuesday.
Bulavina’s immigration lawyers said they strongly suspect that federal agency officials realized they had made a mistake.
In their charging documents, Bulavina’s attorneys said, ICE accused Bulavina of overstaying her original immigration status, a Biden-era humanitarian parole program called Uniting for Ukraine. But Bulavina had already applied for and received a separate immigration status called Temporary Protected Status that doesn’t expire until 2026, according to her attorneys.
Bulavina and other detainees struggled to sleep because the holding rooms were too cold and the fluorescent lights were too bright, she said. To keep warm, she added, they huddled and they pressed plastic trays that were brought to them with expired breakfast onto their bodies while they were still warm.
The women, she said, also used exposed toilets.
Korol said that officers told detainees that “there was no possibility to sleep there (in the downtown building).” Attempts were made to relocate them to the Otay Mesa Detention Center. Every night, during the early morning hours, the women were shackled and taken into vehicles, where they would wait several hours to enter the detention center, only to return downtown.
“I hate to say the ‘e’ word. Evil, you know, but it is,” said Scott Santarosa, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Barrio Logan.
He has witnessed ICE agents arrest people as they head to their court hearings and green card interviews. In August, he and other faith leaders launched interfaith ministry to accompany refugees and asylum seekers at immigration court. More than 450 people have volunteered since, he said.
Of federal agents’ arrests of green card applicants, Santarosa said he understands why some people may feel “stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
“Is it worse to stay completely in the shadows or to come forward and try to be going through the right door,” he said. “Well, then this system is not rewarding that.”
In a statement, Rep. Scott Peters, D-50, said arresting people “who follow the legal immigration process” is wrong, cruel, and hypocritical.”
He said his office has been in touch with Bulavina and her family. Earlier this week, lawmakers introduced legislation that would restrict arrests at green card interviews and other court-ordered appearances. Peters co-sponsored the proposal, dubbed the Immigration Due Process Protection Act.
Congressman Juan Vargas, D-52, said the conditions Bulavina reported are what he witnessed when he toured the basement of the federal courthouse last month.
“It's very inhumane what we're doing. I mean, it's very inhumane.”
Only 34% of ICE detainees had a criminal record, according to ICE data from September. KPBS has previously reported that thousands of habeas corpus petitions have been filed this year to free immigrants from unlawful detention.
Vargas said the lower courts have ruled the government is violating the Constitution, but that people can’t expect the same from the Supreme Court.
“This is not an objective Supreme Court. This is a Supreme Court that's allowing Trump and his administration to get away with trampling all of our laws, including the Constitution,” Vargas said.
He called the court corrupt and said that it has to change.
In a statement, Rep. Mike Levin, D-49, said the situation demonstrates the need for greater transparency and accountability around the Trump administration's deportation push.
“What happened to Viktoriia Bulavina should alarm every American," Levin said in the statement. "She was complying with the legal marriage-based green card interview process set up by our government. Following her release, she highlighted issues with the conditions inside the downtown San Diego ICE holding facility."
Reps. Darrell Issa, R-48, and Sara Jacobs, D-51, did not respond to requests for comment.
