ICE Denies Care for Asylum-Seeker’s Growing Tumor After Botched Deportation

Aliaksei Shcharbachenia, a 35-year-old asylum-seeker from Belarus held at the CoreCivic-operated Farmville Detention Center in Virginia, says he is being denied specialist care for a growing tumor on his arm that he first flagged in December. In May, ICE attempted to deport him — flying him to Turkey and Azerbaijan despite his pending asylum claim and documented persecution — and agents allegedly struck his head and restrained him during the failed removal. He received no treatment for those injuries on his return. CoreCivic, which bought the facility in 2025, denies the allegations of medical neglect and retaliation.