"In four days, she was urgently hospitalized three times." A Belarusian woman ended up in a US immigration prison after a domestic dispute
Katsiaryna Bartko, a 33-year-old Belarusian woman, moved to the USA and applied for asylum after the start of the full-scale war, but now finds herself in an American immigration prison. Behind bars, the girl was left without vital medications — she started having seizures.
Katsiaryna Bartko. Photo from the hero's archive
Katsiaryna's story was told by her partner, Dzmitry Shyshou, who is trying to get her out of prison.
"I haven't met girls with such a strong core"
Dzmitry talks to us via video call from his office.
"Katya is actually a very kind person," Dzmitry begins. "She has been through a lot: cancer, and life in hospitals, but I have never met girls with such a strong character. Unlike many, she is focused on working, creating a family, a home, and not on some TikTok show."
Katsiaryna is a lawyer by education and taught at Polotsk State University. In 2020, she participated in post-election protests. After the start of the war in Ukraine, according to Dzmitry, she participated in Minsk protests against Russian aggression. In early March 2022, Katsiaryna flew to the USA — she had an American visa and was going to study in the States.
Screenshot from Katsiaryna's Instagram
In October 2022, her ex-boyfriend was brutally detained, and a video with him was published on the GUBOPiK channel, along with a photo of him with the girl. Later, law enforcement officers came to Katsiaryna's parents regarding a case for participating in peaceful protests, and acquaintances from that photo began to be detained. The girl decided there was no turning back, and in February 2023, she applied for political asylum in the USA. Such cases take a long time to review there.
How the girl ended up behind bars
Katsiaryna's detention story resembles an absurd film. It all started on May 6, 2026, with an argument at a party. The couple had a loud argument with other guests late at night and left, but someone called the police.
"In Florida, for such calls, arrest is automatic, pending investigation — that's the procedure. The detective told me he didn't see any crime and would close the case.
But in Florida — which is almost the only state like this in the USA — the state can still pursue the case if it deems it necessary. Which it did," Dzmitry sighs.
Katsiaryna Bartko. Photo from the hero's archive
Katsiaryna was taken into custody. The court set Katsiaryna's bail at $500, but her lawyer emphatically advised against paying it.
"He said: if you pay the bail, she will be released from the police, but ICE (Immigration Police) officers will immediately come for her. And she will sit in an immigration prison with an open criminal case, which is fatal for immigration court."
They listened and waited until June 3, when the judge and prosecutor completely closed the case without any conviction.
"But Katsiaryna was not released; instead, she was transferred to an immigration prison on June 4 — solely based on a new harsh directive against people with expired visas. The worst part is that a federal judge overturned this rule literally the day after she was taken! If this whole procedure had been delayed by even one day, they simply would not have had legal grounds to hold her, and she would have been released," Dzmitry explains emotionally.
However, the bureaucratic machine had already started: since the girl was physically transferred to the ICE system on June 4, the overturning of the directive on June 5 did not automatically release her. Now she has to prove the legality of her stay in the USA and request release on bail through a complex and very slow judicial process.
"In four days, she was urgently hospitalized three times"
Katsiaryna has health problems. In 2014, the girl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In 2015, she was given a third disability group. She is lifelong dependent on daily hormone and calcium intake. In the immigration detention center in Florida, they simply stopped giving them to her.
"People don't believe it: how can this be, these are cheap, penny-worth medicines! — Dzmitry exclaims indignantly. "But her calcium level dropped to a critical point, where heart or breathing arrest is possible. In four days, she was urgently hospitalized three times — on June 6, 8, and 9."
Katsiaryna Bartko. Photo from her VKontakte page
Hospitalizations in detention should be paid for by the state. But the guards gave Katsiaryna's personal number to the hospital instead of ICE's number, and the bills are being issued to her — the co-payment for one of them alone is about $1400.
"Will I sue over the bills? — Dzmitry asks again. "That's a future problem. Right now, I only have one priority — how to ensure her freedom and medical care."
The conditions of detention only worsened her state.
"With a critical drop in calcium, a person experiences unbearable cold due to impaired thermoregulation. And they slept directly on concrete beds — pieces of cement in the wall. They asked the guards for cardboard boxes from sandwiches to at least lay them down, but they were forbidden to take them."
After the immigration police detention center, she was transferred to the Flagler County Jail (also in Florida). There, the staff and sheriff treated the Belarusian woman well; doctors monitored her condition and provided the necessary medications. The girl's condition began to improve.
Katsiaryna Bartko. Photo from the hero's archive
But on June 18, Katsiaryna was suddenly transferred to the CoreCivic prison in Kansas City. And there, they again stopped providing the necessary medications — they only gave a blister pack of hormones, but no calcium.
Calcium has still not been given. Due to its deficiency, Katsiaryna started having muscle spasms, known as "obstetrician's hand," on June 22.
"Her hands contort so much that it's impossible to straighten her palm. She asks for help, and the guards tell her: 'Write a note and drop it in the box.' She tells them: 'What will I write with? Both my hands are twisted!' As a result, another girl wrote for her. Do you know what the guards did? They took the paper out of the box and simply threw it back onto her bed."
To get Katsiaryna treatment, Dzmitry sent a 73-page fax with her medical history; otherwise, they refused to accept her medical history and treatment plan.
In response, ICE officers confiscated all medicines and began to pressure Katsiaryna: they showed a paper with his name and threatened to initiate an FBI investigation against him for allegedly illegally obtaining medical data, even though there was an official power of attorney for this.
Dzmitry and Katsiaryna. Photo from the hero's archive
Only the intervention of American politicians helped to move the situation from a standstill. Realizing that the Kansas prison was simply withholding information, Dzmitry turned for help to the offices of Congresswoman Frederica Wilson and Senator Ashley Moody. When representatives of the politicians began making official calls and inquiries to the detention center, the administration's attitude instantly changed.
The guards suddenly brought Katsiaryna all the necessary papers for her lawyers and data transfer permissions themselves.
During our conversation with Dzmitry, the phone suddenly rings. It's Katsiaryna calling from the Kansas prison.
"Yes, my love, everything is fine," Dzmitry quickly and tenderly answers. Then he explains the situation to her and offers to answer a question for the media.
Katsiaryna behind bars. Photo from the hero's archive
Katsiaryna says in a tired voice that she feels very unwell because she is not being given all the necessary medications. "The most I can do is bother ICE with requests."
After a short conversation, she says goodbye, as the call time is limited.
What now
Today, Katsiaryna's case is under the jurisdiction of the immigration court in Kansas City, Missouri. Lawyers have filed a request for release on bail, but the judges are overloaded, and the wait could be prolonged. Dzmitry hopes that the girl's health condition will force the judges to make a quick decision on her release so that she can properly prepare for her asylum process from home.
"If she is denied bail, we will file a Habeas Corpus (a demand to justify the legality of detention), because in such a state, she simply cannot be in prison," he says.
What awaits Katsiaryna in her homeland in case of deportation is difficult to predict. On the one hand, the statute of limitations for participation in the 2020 rallies has expired, and people are no longer imprisoned under Article 342. On the other hand, no one can guarantee that law enforcement agencies will not charge her under some other political article.
To cope with lawyer fees, enormous medical bills, and potential bail, Dzmitry created a fundraiser on the GoFundMe platform. In parallel, he is seeking support from the Belarusian community and human rights organizations to help Katsiaryna regain her freedom.