U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a Russian woman at Marine Corps Base Hawaii last week, according to the agency and a Marine Corps spokesperson, in what is likely the first known detention of a foreign national under a partnership pilot program between the service and federal immigration authorities that began last month.
Military police at Marine Corps Base Hawaii stopped Anastasiia Vorobeva on June 12 at an entry control point on the southern part of the base, 1st Lt. John O’Hara, a spokesperson for the base, told Military.com late Friday.
He said Vorobeva failed to present “valid identification,” and military police then transferred her to ICE. ICE said in a brief statement on social media following the arrest last week that it had arrested Vorobeva and that she had allegedly arrived in the country in 2023 through a port of entry in San Diego, California.
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“This marks the first foreign national taken into custody since the start of MCBH’s cooperative operations with ICE,” O’Hara said. He deferred all other questions to ICE.
O’Hara said that Vorobeva had no affiliation to the military or Marine Corps Base Hawaii. In its social media post, ICE alleged that she was in the United States illegally, but did not say whether she previously had a visa, where she was being held, or what she was doing prior to her arrest.
Last month, the Marine Corps announced a partnership with federal immigration authorities, including ICE, that would see agents posted at entry points at three installations across the country, including Hawaii. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is also part of the program.
The stated intent of the program is to prevent unlawful entry into Marine Corps installations by foreign nationals.
The agents are also posted at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, and Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia.
Military.com repeatedly queried Marine Corps Base Hawaii; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, or NCIS, which previously said that it was working with ICE; and ICE about Vorobeva’s detention starting Tuesday.
NCIS deferred all questions to Marine Corps Base Hawaii. A spokesperson for ICE, Richard Beam, acknowledged the inquiry on Wednesday, but did not respond further.
It was unclear why Vorobeva was attempting to enter the Hawaii base. A search of public court records did not unveil any active cases under her name, and the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., did not reply by publication time.
Marine Corps officials told Military.com last month that, while federal immigration agents would be stationed at entry points around the installations, they would not be patrolling the interior of the bases.
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