![Main fundraiser photo](https://images.gofundme.com/4b_XhToOquusQM8GLy0ciRydciE=/720x405/https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/70419453_1673474164292069_r.jpeg)
HELP GET RUSSIAN WAR RESISTER OUT OF ICE DETENTION
Donation protected
WE HAVE MET OUR GOAL! HIS BOND WAS LOWERED TO $3,000, and we bonded him out (Friday, January 13: a very lucky Friday the thirteenth indeed...)
Thanks for coming to this page to consider donating. I'm leaving this info here, because it's such an incredible story:
My friend Joy and I have been visiting Ivan (not his real name) at the ICE detention center in Tacoma since early November. He is a war resister from Siberia who came here in a small boat – a trip of 300 miles in treacherous waters – risking his life to avoid fighting in the Ukraine war. And there he sits in detention, writing poetry about being in the company of four walls…
Yesterday, papers were received saying that he can be released on a $10,000 bond. $10,000!!! Welcome to the absurd & mean-spirited world of ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement in the U.S.).
HE WILL NOT BE RELEASED ON BOND FROM DETENTION UNTIL WE RAISE $10,000.
PLEASE HELP. This is a bond, so you will get your money back when his asylum process is complete. Think of it as a loan, because that’s exactly what it is: Once the funds are returned after the legal process is over, I will send you a check for the amount you donate, less the GoFundMe fee (2.9% + 30 cents).
Are you thinking of $25? Well…perhaps you can really afford $50? Likewise, if you’re thinking of $150, maybe you make it $300? WHATEVER amount you’ve thought of while reading this, maybe you could double it? We’ve truly got an incredible amount to raise to get him out.
Background & Current Status:
In October, Ivan and a friend fled eastern Russia in a 15’ skiff to escape conscription into the war in Ukraine. The friend's $3,000 bond is graciously being paid by a small local church, but for some absurd illogical reason, Ivan’s bond is much higher, and it will take a community effort to attain his freedom.
Here are three articles about their incredibly dangerous 300-mile voyage in the friend's fishing skiff to an island in the Bering Strait that is part of Alaska.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/07/world/europe/russia-alaska-draft-evaders.html#:~:text=The%20pair%20sailed%20to%20the,Source%2C%20an%20online%20news%20outlet [NOTE: you might need to copy/paste that link rather than click it...]
Organizer
Sallie Shawl
Organizer
Home, WA