Nikita and Oksana, a Russian couple detained in the US, who spent months at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas, recently opened up about the inhospitable conditions of the detention facility.
The center has been making news for its inhumane living conditions after a toddler was reportedly hospitalized with complicated respiratory issues that nearly claimed the child’s life, and then was denied prescription medication.
Nikita and his wife, Oksana, also had a similarly horrifying experience during their stay at the facility. The pair told NBC News that their meals were allegedly infested with worms and covered in mold.
They also claimed that guards at the ICE facility yelled their orders and ripped toys away from little children. The couple further alleged that detainees had to spend sleepless nights under bright lights that were never turned off, and had to stand in a queue for hours just to get a single pill.
Nikita, who said they fled from Russia to escape the country’s “tyranny,” said, “We left one tyranny and came to another kind of tyranny.” He further added, “Even in Russia, they don’t treat children like this.”
A former Dilley detention center employee talked to @Carrasquillo about how kids are treated there and it’s gutting.https://t.co/PsoqetGEae pic.twitter.com/TzgFKNh9QB
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 13, 2026
Nikita and his wife fled Russia nearly two years ago in the hope of a better life in the US and a chance to provide their kids with the opportunity to build a different life and future for themselves.
After leaving Russia in 2024, the family arrived in Mexico. Shortly after, they crossed the border and arrived in the US, requesting asylum in 2025. However, their hopes were shattered when President Donald Trump announced a widespread immigration crackdown across the US after returning to office to serve his second term.
Nikita reportedly informed the border agent at the Otay Mesa port of entry that he and his family were at risk of retaliation for his activism against Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. An asylum officer also found the family was facing a threat of persecution.
However, instead of being released into the U.S., the family was taken into custody at the South Texas detention facility. They reportedly spent five days in federal holding cells, where their children slept over thin mats and under foil blankets, before being transferred to the center.
Since it reopened in March 2025, the ICE family detention center in Dilley, Texas, has held around 3,500 people, more than half of them children.
As reports of contaminated food and the spread of measles have made national headlines, ProPublica spoke with two dozen detainees… pic.twitter.com/9zs73Kq5FB
— PBS News (@NewsHour) February 10, 2026
The family’s attorney, Elora Mukherjee, cited the family’s deteriorating health condition and requested their immediate release.
The lawyer, who is also director of the Columbia Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, pointed out that the family’s minor children have been in detention for more than 120 days, over six times the federal government’s 20-day maximum limit.
“Kamilla should not be spending her birthday in prison,” Mukherjee said, adding, “She has done nothing wrong.”
