Basile, LA, October 23, 2024 – Yesterday, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the ACLU of Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Ermine Nersisian, a 51-year-old disabled woman who is currently detained at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center. An asylum seeker from Russia, Ermine suffers from severe, debilitating osteoarthritis and meniscal injury as well as severe anxiety and depression, both of which are being exacerbated by her ongoing detention. Despite repeated requests to accommodate Ermine’s disability, ICE officials have left her locked in prolonged detention with inadequate medical care – violating federal anti-discrimination laws and resulting in Ermine’s rapidly deteriorating physical and mental health. Her legal team is requesting her immediate release.

Ermine came to the United States in May 2024, seeking safety from the persecution and torture that she suffered in Russia. Alongside her daughter, son-in-law, and her young grandchild, Ermine followed the lawful process to apply for asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. While her family was released to their sponsor in California, the government unnecessarily separated and incarcerated Ermine, transporting her across the country. Though she should have been released under a binding policy that applies to asylum seekers like her, Ermine remains detained in Louisiana.

An expert medical review conducted by an attending physician at NY Presbyterian Hospital and professor at Weill Cornell Medicine confirmed Ermine’s disability and called for her release. The medical expert also noted that Ermine’s medical conditions have worsened within the context of prolonged detention, leaving her to suffer avoidable and potentially permanent harm. Aside from causing chronic pain, Ermine’s untreated disability has prevented her from participating fully in her asylum proceedings. 

“Ermine has been begging for help for months, and governmental officials have denied her at every turn,” said Sarah Gillman, Director of Strategic U.S. Litigation at RFK Human Rights. “Therefore, Ermine is seeking relief from the Court.”

This lawsuit is the latest development in Ermine’s case. Her legal team has filed four requests for parole, as well as a federal civil rights complaint with the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties documenting Ermine’s disability, her deteriorating physical and mental health, and the fact that the government has not provided a reasonable accommodation of parole or release.  

“ICE has policies and procedures they must follow in specific circumstances,” said Nora Ahmed, Legal Director at the ACLU of Louisiana. “Despite repeated requests for release due to ICE’s inability to care for Ermine’s disability, they have subjected her to unnecessary and prolonged detention, which stands as an impediment to her legal right to seek asylum.”

Ermine’s federal complaint is currently pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

About Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

We are a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that has worked to realize Robert F. Kennedy’s dream of a more just and peaceful world since 1968. In partnership with local activists, we advocate for key human rights issues—championing change makers and pursuing strategic litigation at home and around the world. And to ensure change that lasts, we foster a social-good approach to business and investment and educate millions of students about human rights and social justice.

About American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana

Since 1956, the ACLU of Louisiana (ACLU-LA) has worked to advance and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Louisiana. As Louisiana’s chief defender of civil rights and civil liberties, ACLU-LA is committed to advancing racial justice and dismantling systemic racism across the state through our work to hold police accountable, end mass incarceration and immigration detention, protect voting rights, and advance gender equality and reproductive freedom.