Grijalva: Delay deportations in Arizona due to measles outbreak

Rep. Adelita Grijalva is calling for a delay in deportation proceedings for ICE detainees in Arizona affected by a measles outbreak.

That includes a 23-year-old Russian man who was detained in Tucson in June and who is currently in quarantine at an ICE detention facility in Florence.

"ICE must delay his deportation proceedings — and those of all other impacted individuals — so that they are able to pursue all legal avenues, which will inevitably be delayed by this outbreak," the Tucson Democrat said Wednesday in a statement.

Grijalva’s constituent services team has been assisting the Russian man, whose partner asked the Arizona Daily Star to only identify him by his first name, Vlad, for his safety.

In December 2022, Vlad presented himself at the port of entry in San Ysidro, Calif., and requested asylum protection after fleeing the Russia-Ukraine war, according to his asylum petition shared by his partner, Andrea Landavazo, a Tucson native who began dating Vlad in 2025.

Landavazo, 25, said Vlad was detained by ICE on June 26 after he got confused and missed a court hearing in his asylum case, which had been rescheduled a few times.

Vlad was issued an order of deportation in absentia at the May 6 hearing, a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. He was then detained at the Tucson ICE field office when he tried to deliver paperwork asking to reopen his asylum case.

Vlad "is currently housed in a quarantined dorm," a Thursday ICE statement said. "So far, the quarantine has not delayed the process, and staff do not anticipate any delays. Due to operational security considerations, ICE does not release information about future removal or schedules in advance."

Landavazo said the one time Vlad was able to call her from Florence Service Processing Center, on Wednesday, he told her he was sick and in quarantine.

Vlad's life is at risk if he is returned to Russia, where he would be imprisoned for his political beliefs or forced to fight in a war he opposes, Landavazo said.

"I'm worried once he gets there, shortly after ... he’ll be drafted into the military," she said.

In his home country, Vlad had been active in protests against the Russian government, Vlad's asylum petition said. In January 2021, he was detained and "subjected to severe psychological torment, including death threats" by Russian police in response to his protest activity, the petition said.

The "full-scale invasion of Ukraine" was the trigger for Vlad's decision to flee his home, amid an "unprecedented crackdown on forms of dissent, transforming the specific threats he had already received into a near certainty of imprisonment," the petition said.

Landavazo said they've hired a new lawyer to try to see if there's any way for Vlad to avoid deportation.

She described Vlad as a positive person, "like sunshine," and a caring and supportive partner. Now, she worries that "I won't see him again in person." 

Legal visits ongoing, ICE says

Seven cases of measles have been confirmed at the Florence Detention Center campus, which includes the short-term holding facility Florence Staging Facility and the Florence Service Processing Center, ICE said this week.

Advocates with the nonprofit Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project are concerned about their clients' access to legal services during the lockdown. Some detainees have missed court dates due to the lockdown, potentially extending their time in detention, said Monica Cordero-Vazquez, adult legal program manager for the Florence Project.

ICE's Thursday statement said detainees still have access to legal services, despite the lockdown.

"Lawyers are able to enter the facility, but they must follow precautions such as wearing a mask, avoiding physical contact, and acknowledging a health warning," the statement said.

So far this year, there have been 108 confirmed measles cases in Arizona, including 16 cases in Pinal County, where Arizona's largest ICE detention facilities are located, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

ICE has issued statements defending its care of detainees, claiming, "This is the best healthcare than many aliens have received in their entire lives."

Those statements defy reality, said Grijalva in her emailed statement.

"For ICE to say this is the 'best healthcare' these individuals have ever received while simultaneously presiding over a measles outbreak at one of its own facilities demonstrates how willfully blind or blatantly indifferent the agency is to the inhumane conditions right under its nose," Grijalva said. "ICE must also communicate closely with the appropriate state and federal authorities to ensure this outbreak doesn’t spread to other facilities or the broader community."

At least 33 people died in ICE custody in 2025, the year President Donald Trump took office, which is triple the number of detainee deaths in 2024. So far in 2026, 21 people have died in ICE custody.