Violin Teacher to 95 Children Silenced by ICE: Glendale Music Community Rallies for Detained Educator Alisa Darbinyan
GLENDALE, Calif., August 15, 2026 — The practice rooms at Sonata Music School in Glendale have gone quiet. More than 95 young violin students — children who have spent months preparing for a November 1 classical concert at the Alex Theatre — are without the teacher who trained them. Alisa Darbinyan, a conservatory-trained violinist and devoted music educator, has been in federal immigration detention since August 2, when ICE agents took her into custody at Los Angeles International Airport. Her family has not heard from her in three days.
Darbinyan picked up the violin at age six at Sayat-Nova Music School. She went on to graduate from the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, one of the region’s most prestigious music institutions. In 2012, she co-founded the Liberta ensemble, which toured more than 20 cities across eight American states. She has performed alongside internationally recognized musicians including Richard Clayderman, Homayoun Shajarian, and the Siavash Orchestra. For the past several years, she has poured that experience into teaching children in Southern California — building technique, discipline, and a love of classical music one student at a time.
Now her students are asking where she is. Their parents are looking for answers. And her family is publicly demanding that the federal government release her on bond and allow her to return to the work and the people who need her.
Taken at the Airport
Darbinyan was at LAX on August 2 with her husband, Haik Abovian, a United States citizen by birth, preparing to fly to Hawaii. An ICE officer who introduced himself as Waseem approached with a team of agents and announced that Darbinyan was being taken into custody 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 signed an executive order on January 20, 2025 directing federal agencies to broadly enforce immigration laws against individuals deemed inadmissible or removable. The same order affirms that detention during immigration proceedings must stay within statutory bounds. Darbinyan’s family is now demanding that ICE and the White House clarify whether the agent’s characterization at the airport reflected official policy and name the specific legal authority that was used.
Entered Legally, Applied for Asylum, No Criminal Record
Darbinyan came to the United States through lawful channels and, according to her family, filed her asylum application before her authorized stay expired. She has no criminal history of any kind, no outstanding removal order, and has never missed an immigration hearing, government appointment, or reporting obligation. She had no scheduled meeting with ICE or USCIS before her arrest.
The family says ICE has not provided them with a judicial warrant, court order, custody determination, Notice to Appear, or any other document specifying the statutory basis for her continued detention.
Shuttled Through Four Facilities While Her Bond Case Stalled
After being brought to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center on August 2, Darbinyan’s legal team filed a request for bond. Before any judge could rule on that request, ICE transferred her more than 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 advancing because Darbinyan was no longer within that court’s jurisdictional area. She was transferred to Dilley, Texas on August 13 and to the Port Isabel Service Processing Center on August 14.
No immigration judge has denied Darbinyan’s bond on the merits. No judge has concluded she poses a public safety risk, represents a flight risk, or raises a national security concern.
EOIR Policy Memorandum 25-49 was drafted to govern exactly this scenario. It requires that when DHS moves a detained individual outside the original immigration court’s geographic area, the pending bond request “must remain pending” and should be clerically transferred 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.”
Detention Conditions: Sleep Deprivation and Silence
In the last messages she managed to send before going dark on August 12, Darbinyan described sleep deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures, and serious difficulty reaching her family. She also reported she could not consistently access the deportation officer responsible for her case.
Her family says an Adelanto deportation officer identified as Officer Garcia never met with Darbinyan during her time at the facility. Information received at Adelanto indicated the officer had reportedly been absent from duty for about 12 days. No replacement officer took meaningful action regarding her custody or transfer status before she was moved to Texas.
The family is demanding a formal investigation into detention conditions and immediate confirmation of Darbinyan’s physical and mental wellbeing.
Her August 12 transfer to Camp East Montana came less than one month after Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union published a major report documenting significant barriers to family communication, confidential legal access, and adequate medical care at the Fort Bliss detention site. That report also recorded repeated transfers that disrupted legal representation and court proceedings. While those broader findings do not prove what happened to Darbinyan during her brief time there, they substantially heighten the urgency of confirming her conditions and access to counsel.
The family adds that Darbinyan was undergoing medical treatment before her arrest following an accident. Her husband has been unable to confirm whether treatment continued, whether her health has deteriorated, or whether her medical records followed her through the chain of transfers.
“I Keep Thinking About My Students”
In her final conversations with family, Darbinyan returned repeatedly to the subject of her husband and the young musicians who depend on her.
In a statement relayed through 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.”
“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 take immediate action:
- 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, music educators, parents, human-rights organizations, elected officials, members of the Armenian-American community, and concerned members of the public to demand Darbinyan’s immediate release on bond and a stop 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
