Classical Concert at Glendale’s Alex Theatre in Jeopardy After ICE Detains Performing Violinist, Moves Her Through Four Facilities
GLENDALE, Calif., August 15, 2026 — A November 1 classical concert at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale may never take place. The woman at its center — Alisa Darbinyan, a professional violinist, performer, and music teacher who has spent years building a program of more than 95 young students — is behind bars in a Texas immigration detention facility after being arrested by ICE at Los Angeles International Airport on August 2. Her family has not heard from her in three days and is now making a public plea for her release.
Darbinyan’s performing career spans two decades and two continents. She began studying violin at age six at the Sayat-Nova Music School, graduated from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, co-founded the touring Liberta ensemble in 2012, and has performed across more than 20 cities in eight U.S. states alongside internationally recognized artists including Richard Clayderman, Homayoun Shajarian, and the Siavash Orchestra. In Glendale, she channeled that experience into teaching the next generation — until August 2 brought it all to a halt.
Seized at LAX Alongside Her American Husband
Darbinyan and her husband, Haik Abovian — a citizen of the United States by birth — were at the airport preparing to board a domestic flight to Hawaii when an ICE officer who gave his name as Waseem approached with a group of agents. He told them Darbinyan was being detained 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 broadly enforce immigration laws against inadmissible and removable noncitizens. The order also states that detention during proceedings must remain within statutory limits. The family is demanding that ICE and the White House clarify whether the agent’s claims at LAX corresponded to actual policy and identify the precise legal authority behind the arrest.
Legal Entry, Asylum Filed, Spotless Record
Darbinyan arrived in the United States through lawful means and, her family attests, filed her asylum application before her authorized stay ran out. She has never been charged with or convicted of any offense. She has no removal order. She has never missed an immigration hearing, government appointment, or check-in. She had no pending appointment with ICE or USCIS when she was taken.
Her family reports that ICE has not furnished any judicial warrant, court order, custody determination, Notice to Appear, or other document specifying the exact legal basis for her continuing detention.
Rapid Transfers Across Two States Blocked Her Bond Hearing
After arriving at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center on August 2, Darbinyan’s lawyers filed a request for her release on bond. Before the court could rule on it, ICE moved her over 700 miles to Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas on August 12.
The family says the Adelanto bond proceeding was then canceled or prevented from going forward because Darbinyan was no longer within that court’s geographic jurisdiction. On August 13, she was moved to Dilley, Texas. On August 14, she was transferred once more to the Port Isabel Service Processing Center.
No immigration judge has denied her bond on the merits. No judge has determined she is a public safety risk, a flight risk, or a national security concern.
EOIR Policy Memorandum 25-49 addresses precisely this situation. It requires that when DHS transfers a detainee out of the original immigration court’s area, the pending bond request “must remain pending” and should be clerically forwarded 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.”
Conditions in Detention
Before contact was severed on August 12, Darbinyan described sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures, and considerable difficulty communicating with her family. She also reported she could not consistently access the deportation officer assigned to her case.
The family says an Adelanto deportation officer identified as Officer Garcia never met with Darbinyan while she was held there. According to information received at the facility, the officer had reportedly been absent from work for roughly 12 days. No replacement officer meaningfully addressed Darbinyan’s custody or transfer circumstances before she was sent to Texas.
The family is calling for a formal investigation into detention conditions and immediate confirmation of Darbinyan’s physical and mental state.
Her August 12 transfer to Camp East Montana took place less than a month after Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union released a major report citing barriers to family communication, confidential legal access, and proper medical care at the Fort Bliss detention site. That report also documented repeated transfers that disrupted legal representation and court proceedings. While those broader findings do not prove what Darbinyan experienced during her brief time there, they substantially increase the urgency of confirming her access to counsel and communication.
The family also notes Darbinyan had been receiving medical treatment before her detention following an accident. Her husband has been unable to verify whether that treatment continued, whether her condition has worsened, or whether her medical records followed her through the successive transfers.
An Artist’s Plea From Behind Bars
During her last conversations with family, Darbinyan spoke constantly about her husband and the children she teaches.
In a statement relayed 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.”
“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.”
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 immediately:
- 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, performers, arts organizations, teachers, parents, human-rights groups, elected officials, members of the Armenian-American community, and concerned members of the public to demand Darbinyan’s immediate release on bond and an end to 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
