Victory! Kate is out!

Hi everyone,

thank you all so much for speaking up and signing this petition. Kate has been RELEASED!

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT. 

Katsiaryna Bartko was been released from ICE custody in September. She had spent 106th day in ICE custody.

She was most recently housed at the CoreCivic-managed Midwest Regional Reception Center in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Her calcium and thyroid hormone levels dropped significantly while in ICE custody, and her most recent hospitalization marked her fourth time being hospitalized while in ICE custody.

This is what Kate wrote on her IG upon her release:
"A hospital bed. An IV pump. No shackles on her ankles, no chain to the bed frame, no officer standing at the door.
She can get up and walk to the bathroom in her own room. By herself. That is what freedom looks like on day one.
Two days ago I did not know whether she was alive. Today she is out of ICE detention, in the care of real doctors, and she is smiling.
Her recovery and the road back will be long. But she is safe.
Thank you. To every person who shared her story, wrote a letter, or said a prayer for a woman they had never met. This is what you did."

Her partner  Dmitry Shyshov, shared a statement with KSHB 41 News:

"Kate is out. ICE agreed today to release her from detention onto supervision, and I am still absorbing it".

"I am grateful to the people of Kansas, to the neighbors in Leavenworth who noticed what was happening in their own town, and to every person who shared her story when they had no reason to. And to your newsroom — for asking questions we could not get answered ourselves, and for reading her medical records rather than taking a statement at face value.

"Her condition is still difficult. She is at The University of Kansas Health System, and the doctors there are working to get her stable and into recovery. They are optimistic, and I hold on to that.

"Her immigration case continues, and that is as it should be. We never asked for anything other than due process — the same process anyone is entitled to. The difference now is that she will go through it in safety.

Thank you for your part in this. For signing and sharing -- it really made a real difference in Kate's life! 

Mitya 

Photo: Kate's instagram: @kateredemption