Belarus Activist Released After ICE Medical Crisis

After 115 days of deteriorating health in federal immigration detention, Katsiarina Bartko walked free on Wednesday when ICE released her from custody in Kansas.

Bartko, 33, lost her thyroid and parathyroid glands to cancer 11 years ago. She depends on precise daily doses of calcium and hormone medications to stay alive.

The Belarus native came to the United States legally in 2022, seeking asylum after speaking out against her country's authoritarian leader. Several of her pro-democracy activist friends had already been imprisoned back home for criticizing the government.

After a misdemeanor charge was dropped in Miami this May, ICE took Bartko into custody instead of releasing her. That's when her health crisis began.

Medical records show she was hospitalized three times in just four days while detained in Florida. Then ICE transferred her to a private detention facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, where she was hospitalized a fourth time last Saturday.

In sworn court statements, Bartko said facility staff withheld her medications at times, causing dangerous fluctuations in her calcium and hormone levels. Her attorney, Rekha Sharma-Crawford, noted that before detention, when Bartko managed her own care, all her levels were normal.

ICE officials had blamed Bartko for her condition, claiming she refused to take medications consistently. Bartko denied this, saying she feared a potentially fatal medical crisis.

A Harvard Medical School professor who reviewed her records confirmed the serious risks of her condition, especially without proper medication management.

Why This Inspires

Bartko's partner, Dmitry Shyshov, said he cried when he learned of her release. After weeks of fearing the worst, he thanked the ICE officer who made the decision and the Kansas community members who rallied behind Bartko's case.

Now hospitalized for stabilization before traveling home to Miami, Bartko will once again control her own medication schedule. She still faces immigration proceedings, but she'll attend them while living safely at home.

Shyshov expressed what many felt: "It took someone willing to look at a human being and act." Sometimes that's all it takes to save a life.