- July 12, 2025
Saturday, June 7, was a hectic morning for Leila Abdusattarov. She had an early dress rehearsal at the Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center for the Mia Bella Academy of Dance spring recital held later that afternoon. But first she had to say goodbye to her childhood dog, as the family’s whole life is being shaken by the imminent deportation of her mother.
Leila’s life is being turned upside down. The 16-year-old Palm Coast High School student had a very traumatic week. Her mother, Marta Abdusattarov, is a domestic violence advocate at the Family Life Center and loves her work, Leila said. Marta is an immigrant from Poland and is not a legal resident. She had been in the process of trying to get her U.S. visa and thought she was continuing that process with an appointment in Orlando, Leila said.
“She went for an appointment and without any contact ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) took her and we had no communication for the whole first day. We had no clue where she was,” Leila said. “We have comunication now, but it’s still in a very uncertain situation. She calls, but it’s for a limited time, like 10 minutes, and it’s a recorded line.”
Similar incidents have been reported in the news. A June 4 article on the NBC News website said hundreds of immigrants enrolled in ICE’s Alternative to Detention program had been arrested in a single day on June 3 including some who “were asked in a mass text message ICE sent out to show up ahead of schedule for check-ins at ICE offices, only to be arrested when they arrived.”
The Observer reached out to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on Marta’s case and had not received a reply by publication time for this story.
Leila, her father, Abdurasul, and her brothers, Karim, 20, and Azam, 14, have been receiving “collect calls” from Marta. Leila, sitting in the auditorium’s seats a couple of hours before she went on stage for the recital, said she has been keeping her phone by her side at all times.
“If I get any Orlando calls I want to make sure I answer so I can have some time with her,” she said.
The family has hired a new attorney to see what their options are, said Brie Crane, Mia Bella’s owner and artistic director, who has set up a Go Fund Me page for the family. They are resigned to the fact that Marta will be deported. They don’t want to see her sent to a Miami detention facility first, Leila said.
“We’re just hoping that she can get to Poland, hoping they don’t keep her in the center,” she said.
The family is getting ready to move if they have to. They were packing up and finding homes for all of their animals — two dogs, three cats and two reptiles (a bearded dragon and a leopard gecko).
The children were all born in the United States and are U.S. citizens. They are not citizens of Poland, so there could be complications in joining Marta. Abdurasul, who owns Urban Force Painting, a painting and pressure washing business in Palm Coast, is from Uzbekistan.
We’re praying that me and my siblings aren't just left alone. And we are in the works of getting a power of attorney to make sure that we have a home and we're not just left to go into foster care or something crazy like that. But we're just trying to stick together as a family.
— LEILA ABDUSATTAROV
“As of right now, there's a possibility that my dad can be taken. And that's like worst case,” Leila said. “We’re praying that me and my siblings aren't just left alone. And we are in the works of getting a power of attorney to make sure that we have a home and we're not just left to go into foster care or something crazy like that. But we're just trying to stick together as a family.”
Crane said the family is facing a financial burden.
“We want to bring as much attention as we can to what's happening with her family and try to get the community involved, because even if they're able to stay in the country, the financial resources that this has taken, to get attorneys is so consuming,” Crane said.
On the Go Fund Me page, Crane said she was reaching out for community support.
“This family is facing urgent emotional and financial hardship. They need support to meet basic needs, explore legal avenues, and possibly prepare for international relocation,” Crane stated on the page.
Leila said the lady who took her dog seemed “super sweet.”
“I just tried to spend as much time with (the dog) as possible,” Leila said. “I'm just hoping that once everything’s worked out, I can see her again, because that's my baby. She seems like she's going to a good home, and I just spent the morning with her, so it was hard, but it was OK.”
Crane said Leila is an honor student and a talented dancer. She has toured with “Artists Simply Human,” a national dance convention, as a company member assisting classes. Leila said she has been dancing since she was 4 years old and has been dancing at Mia Bella for five years. She is planning to dance at nationals in Orlando at the end of the month.
Leila has absorbed a lot of the adult responsibilities in the house over the past week, doing things like looking into passports.
“I feel like I'm actually doing the best I can. I'm just trying to stay strong for my family, because obviously my little brother, it's a little harder with him, and my older brother, I think he's strong enough to take care of it, and my dad's obviously in the most stressful, possible situation,” Leila said. “I’ve just been doing whatever I can to take things off my dad's plate, because he's been working throughout all this and just trying to make money.
“I’m just trying to keep everyone strong, because praying has been helping, and keeping God by my side, it’s been keeping us all together,” she said.
Dance has been a respite from her troubles, Leila said. When she’s on stage, she said, she can forget about everything else. But Crane said it’s unfortunate the kids have been thrust into this situation.
“She should be 16 and worrying about driving her car and going to the beach for the summer, not a potential international move,” Crane said. “I just can't imagine what this is like for the children. This is a nightmare that I'm sure they feel like they're not waking up from, and they still don't really know when the next time they're going to see their mom again.”
