Russian family who complained of mistreatment in ICE facility is released after 4 months

The family’s lawyer had sought their release on medical grounds. They were freed from detention days after NBC News brought attention to their case.

A family of Russian asylum-seekers was released from a South Texas immigrant detention center on Wednesday after more than four months in custody — an ordeal they say left the children anxious, sickened and afraid.

Nikita, his wife, Oksana, and their three children had been held since October at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, where they said they endured worms and mold in their food, hourslong waits for medicine and restless nights under lights that never fully dimmed.

“Thank God,” Nikita said, speaking to a reporter in Russian after learning the news. “We’re ready.”

They were freed about a week after their attorney wrote a letter seeking their release on medical grounds and five days after NBC News published an article detailing what the family described as their nightmare in detention.