The Tiulenev family, parents, several adult children, and three young kids, is holed up under electronic monitoring in Chicago's north suburbs while other relatives sit in federal immigration custody with orders sending them back to Russia. They say they fled southern Russia after threats and an arson attack on their home, warning that their open opposition to the war on Ukraine put a target on their backs. Now the family is split between cramped suburban housing and distant detention centers, juggling a tangle of court filings, appeals and a habeas petition that could decide whether the locked-up relatives are released while their cases move forward.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Tiulenevs say someone hurled a Molotov cocktail at their house in late 2024, and prosecutors later opened an investigation into the family's anti-war activity. They fled first to Georgia, then headed for the United States through Mexico. At the border, the family was split up: two adult children and a son-in-law were detained in California, while Dmitrii Tiulenev, his wife and their three younger children were held in Texas and later released on electronic monitoring after about 100 days in custody. In April 2026, an immigration judge denied asylum and related protections for the three detained adults and ordered them removed to Russia. They have appealed and filed a habeas corpus petition asking to be released from detention. Reporting by the Sun-Times and WBEZ also notes that immigration judges have granted asylum to roughly 28% of Russian applicants so far this year, a sharp drop compared to earlier years.
Detention and Enforcement Trends
Researchers say the Tiulenevs' ordeal fits into a broader enforcement push that has reshaped interior immigration work and the asylum system. The Deportation Data Project has compiled government arrest and detention records that show a rise in interior enforcement and a significant share of detainees who do not have serious criminal convictions. National reporting describes an administration that has shifted from headline-grabbing city sweeps to quieter, wider operations that still pull in large numbers of people. Advocates warn that these tactics make it far tougher for detained asylum seekers to collect evidence, find lawyers and put together solid appeals, a trend highlighted across national coverage of the enforcement campaign.
Legal Options and What Comes Next
The three detained relatives have appealed their removal orders and filed a habeas petition in federal court seeking release while those appeals play out. Habeas filings have surged in Illinois and across the country as detainees challenge long-term custody, and federal judges in the Northern District of Illinois have at times ordered people freed from detention, a pattern documented in reporting and court trackers. Local pro bono clinics and the Illinois Habeas Project are helping detainees draft petitions and chase down records, but advocates say success often depends on how quickly people can gather documents and how willing judges are to rule that a particular detention violates current enforcement guidelines.
According to Just Security, courts around the country have increasingly become the main venue for people seeking immediate relief from immigration detention while the rest of their cases wind through the system.
Local Reaction and Stakes for Return
Dmitrii Tiulenev insists that deportation would put his family in real danger and says a forced return to Russia could mean arrest or worse. "They would liquidate us just like they liquidated Navalny," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. Local advocacy groups, including Russian America for Democracy in Russia, have scrambled to coordinate legal help, interpreters and fundraising in a bid to keep the family together while the appeals grind through the courts. For now, the Tiulenevs are trying to keep the kids in school and their heads down as they wait for a possible ruling on their habeas petition.
The family's fight highlights the ongoing tension between stated U.S. enforcement priorities and the risks faced by political dissidents abroad. As judges, appeals boards and federal policy continue to reshape the landscape for people seeking asylum, legal advocates say the Tiulenevs' fate may hinge on whether courts find their evidence of targeted persecution strong enough to block removal. That question will play out in local federal court filings and hearings, where, as recent reporting and data analysis make clear, many of these high-stakes cases are now won or lost.
Sources: reporting and analysis by the Chicago Sun-Times, datasets from the Deportation Data Project, national coverage from The Guardian, local reporting compiled by WTTW and legal analysis from Injustice Watch and Just Security.
