ICE Releases Grandma With Green Card After 5 Months in Time for Christmas

A grandmother will spend Christmas with her family in Missouri, after being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for almost five months.

Green card holder Donna Hughes-Brown's release came after her husband appealed to Congress twice, with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem promising to review the case.

“Common sense isn't so common,” Hughes-Brown told KMOV in Missouri. “And there's more to people than just a number, just an ID, we are all human first.”

Why It Matters

Hughes-Brown's case is one of a number highlighted in recent months, of immigrants with misdemeanors or minor offenses being detained at airports, or during immigration interviews. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been criticized for targeting those who have lived in the U.S. for many years, rather than the serious criminals they have promised to target. DHS has said holding a green card is a right, not a privilege.

What To Know

An Irish national, Hughes-Brown, 59, has been in the U.S. since she was 11 and had held a green card for over 30 years. She was detained by ICE in Chicago, as she came back to the U.S. from Ireland.

DHS said she was detained because of two misdemeanors from 2015, which her husband said had been dealt with at the time. Under the Trump administration, such records have been reason to detain individuals at ports of entry, regardless of legal status.

Hughes-Brown, who has four children and five grandchildren, was then moved to an ICE detention center in Kentucky. Her husband, James Brown, had voted for President Donald Trump, but previously told Newsweek that he regretted the vote and defended his wife, saying she was more patriotic than many Americans.

The case made its way to Congress, with Noem questioned about the story during a hearing in early December. Rhode Island Representative Seth Magaziner, a Democrat, blamed the secretary for Hughes-Brown's detention.

“She did not come here illegally, and she has never committed any crime other than writing two bad checks totaling $80 10 years ago,” Magaziner said. “She is currently imprisoned and facing deportation.”

Magaziner asked Noem what explanation there could be to detain Hughes-Brown, to which she responded that it was not her job to pick and choose how laws were applied. She then promised to review the case.

Hughes-Brown was also supported by 30 character witnesses and a letter from 18 Senators calling for her release, with a judge ultimately deciding she was not a threat to the community.

After her release, the grandmother told the BBC that the conditions at the facility were “not good” and that the experience had had a major impact on her mental health.

What People Are Saying

Donna Hughes-Brown, speaking to BBC Northern Ireland: “At the time, when they came to tell me that I was getting out, I thought they were joking. It’s important for me to be home with my family to be able to still be a steward in the community that I’m in, knowing that I can still advocate for the other folks that are still detained.”

Congressman Seth Magaziner, in a press release: “Jim Brown served our country in combat, and his family deserved better than months of unnecessary separation. This patriotic couple are now reunited just before Christmas. I will continue fighting this Administration over their unjust detentions and work to reunite more innocent families targeted by Trump's DHS.”

What Happens Next

Hughes-Brown will now spend Christmas with her family, telling the BBC that she wants to see others like her, held by ICE, to be freed.

Newsweek

This story was originally published December 24, 2025 at 9:37 AM.