«In four days she was emergency hospitalized three times». Belarusian woman ended up in an immigration prison in the USA after a domestic dispute with her partner
33-year-old Belarusian Katsiaryna Bartko moved to the USA after the start of the full-scale war and applied for asylum, but now finds herself in an American immigration prison. Behind bars, the girl was left without vital medications — she started having seizures.
Katsiaryna's story was told by her partner Dzmitry Shyshou, who is trying to get the girl out of prison.
«I haven't met girls with such a strong core»
Dzmitry talks to us via video call from his office.
«Katsia is actually a very good person,» Dzmitry begins. «She's been through a lot: cancer and life in hospitals, but I've never met girls with such a strong character. Unlike many, she is focused on working, building a family, a home, not on some TikTok show.»
Katsiaryna is a lawyer by education, she 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 intended to study in the States.
In October 2022, her ex-boyfriend was brutally detained, and a video with him, as well as a photo with the girl, were posted on the GUBOPiK channel. After that, law enforcement officers came to Katsiaryna's parents regarding her involvement in peaceful protests, and acquaintances from that photo began to be detained. The girl decided there was no way back, and in February 2023, she applied for political asylum in the USA. Such cases are considered for a long time 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 fight with other guests at night and left, but someone called the police.
«In Florida, arrests on such calls are automatic, pending clarification of the circumstances — that's the procedure. The detective told me he didn't see any elements of a crime and would close the case.
But in the state of Florida — it's almost the only such state in the USA — the state can still proceed with the case if it deems it necessary. Which it did,» Dzmitry sighs.
Katsiaryna was taken into custody. The court set Katsiaryna's bail at $500, but the lawyer strongly advised against posting it.
«He said: if you post bail, she will be released from the police, but ICE officers (immigration police) will immediately come for her. And she will sit in 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, but transferred to an immigration prison on June 4 — solely on the basis of a new strict circular 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 dragged on for even one more day, they simply would not have had legal grounds to hold her, and she would have been released,» Dzmitry emotionally explains.
However, the bureaucratic machine had already started: since on June 4 the girl was already physically transferred into the ICE system, the cancellation of the circular 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 emergency hospitalized three times»
Katsiaryna has health problems. In 2014, the girl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. In 2015, she was assigned 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 medications! — Dzmitry exclaims. — But her calcium level dropped to a critical point, where heart or breathing arrest is possible. In four days she was emergency hospitalized three times — on June 6, 8, and 9.»
Hospitalizations in detention should be paid for by the state. But the guards gave the hospital Katsiaryna's personal number instead of the ICE number, and the bills are being issued to her — the surcharge for one of them alone is about $1400.
«Will I sue over the bills? — Dzmitry asks. — That's a future problem. At this moment, I have only 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 sandwich boxes to at least put under themselves, but they were forbidden to take them.»
After the immigration police detention center, she was transferred to the Flagler County Jail (also 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.
But on June 18, Katsiaryna was unexpectedly transferred to the CoreCivic prison in Kansas City. And there, they again stopped providing the necessary medications — they only gave her a blister pack of hormones, but without calcium.
Calcium has not been provided yet. Due to its deficiency, Katsiaryna began to experience muscle spasms, the so-called «obstetrician's hand», on June 22.
«Her hands twist 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 just threw it back on her bed.»
To get treatment for Katsiaryna, 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 medications and began to pressure Katsiaryna: they showed her a paper with his name and threatened to initiate an FBI investigation against him for allegedly illegally obtaining medical data, even though he had official power of attorney for this.
Only the intervention of American politicians helped to move the situation from a standstill. Realizing that the Kansas prison was simply withholding information, Dzmitry sought help from 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 lawyers and data transfer permissions themselves.
During our conversation with Dzmitry, the phone suddenly rings. It's Katsiaryna calling from Kansas prison.
«Yes, my dear, everything is fine,» Dzmitry answers quickly and tenderly. Then he explains the situation to her and offers to answer a question for the media.
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 judges are overloaded, and the wait could be prolonged. Dzmitry hopes that the girl's health condition will compel the judges to make a quick decision on her release so that she can properly prepare for the asylum process from her 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 security forces will not charge her under some other political article.
To cover the lawyers' 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.
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РАПТОЎНА перавялі
Рэд. знянацку
тлумачэнне слова:
знянацку, прыслоўе
Раптоўна, нечакана, без папярэджання. Затопленыя знянацку, немцы спачатку стоўпіліся невялікімі групамі, потым кінуліся хто куды. Сіняўскі. Двое мужчын.. падыходзяць да старасты, знянацку хапаюць яго і, разгойдаўшы, кідаюць цераз плот у крапіву. Якімовіч.
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