Polish Mother Held by ICE for 51 Weeks Despite Holding a Green Card Since 2003

Beata Siemionkowicz has spent nearly a year in immigration detention over two decades-old shoplifting cases, even though she has held a green card since 2003 and has lived in the United States for more than 30 years.

Siemionkowicz, a native of Poland, was arrested Aug. 2, 2025, by two masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in civilian clothes as she gardened in her daughter’s backyard in Des Plaines, according to the Chicago Tribune. She was transferred to the Campbell County Detention Center in northern Kentucky, where her first night was Aug. 4, 2025.

That night she was placed in a pod with about 60 other women. Black mold covered the air vents, dead bedbugs sat in the corners of the room, and blood was smeared above the doorway, according to the Tribune, which reported the account of a former cellmate. She has remained in custody in Kentucky since, now 51 weeks.

Siemionkowicz entered the country legally in 1995, moving to Illinois from Bialystok, Poland, and became a lawful permanent resident in 2003, according to the Tribune. A divorced mother of two, she worked as a commercial cleaner and later as a hospice caregiver while living in Round Lake.

The Department of Homeland Security says she was taken into custody because of misdemeanor retail theft convictions at a Jewel store in September 2005 and a Kohl’s in October 2011, and because the agency contends she forged documents to obtain immigration benefits in 2001, according to statements the agency provided to the Tribune and Newsweek.

“Siemionkowicz has made a mockery of our immigration system and our laws,” a DHS spokesperson said, according to the Tribune. “Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right. Under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused.”

Her daughters, Claudia, 25, and Gabi, 21, say the theft cases were resolved years ago through fines and a period of supervised release, according to Lake County court records cited by the Tribune. They say their mother took children’s clothing for them during a difficult stretch after her divorce.

“We just know deep down in our hearts that our mom does not deserve to be removed from this country,” Claudia said, according to the Tribune. “She has two misdemeanors, yes, but those were resolved.”

An immigration judge ordered Siemionkowicz deported on Dec. 9, 2025, according to court records. Her family has appealed. DHS confirmed she will remain in custody pending removal.

The family is working with Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin’s office, which said in a statement to the Tribune that it has been in contact with the family and will continue to assist. They have also hired the attorney who won the release of Donna Hughes Brown, an Irish citizen and green card holder who was detained at O’Hare International Airport and held at the same Kentucky facility for 143 days before a federal judge found she was not deportable, according to the Tribune.

“Beata did all the paperwork right. She even applied for naturalization,” Hughes Brown said, according to the Tribune. “She had done everything right. And it didn’t matter.”

Siemionkowicz was one of 33 Polish nationals booked into a Chicago-area ICE detention center, and 19 of them were arrested during Operation Midway Blitz, according to a Tribune analysis of federal data provided by the Deportation Data Project.

Detention nationwide has climbed under President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement expansion. ICE booked more than 43,000 people into detention in June, the highest monthly total of the administration, and held 65,765 people as of July 11, according to agency data reported by CBS News. Roughly 29% had criminal convictions, and 31% had pending criminal charges, according to the same data.