Donna Hughes-Brown (58) has lived almost her entire life in the United States, raised five children and been a constant presence for five grandchildren yet she is now fighting deportation after being taken off a flight at O’Hare. Her husband, a US Navy veteran, says the arrest over a $25 check from 2015 is “insane” and blames a sweeping immigration crackdown implemented under President Trump.
Donna’s story reads like the sort of bureaucratic nightmare that watching relatives from home dread and yet it has happened to a woman who, by any conventional measure, is part of the American fabric. Born to Irish parents and raised in the US since childhood, Hughes-Brown holds a green card and has renewed it several times. She returning from a family funeral in Cork and a visit to Drogheda when she was detained at Chicago airport on July 29, the Irish Times reports.
The trigger, according to court documents and family accounts, was a misdemeanor from 2015: a $25 bad check for which Hughes-Brown paid restitution and received probation. Federal authorities now describe the offense as a “crime of moral turpitude”, a legal term immigration lawyers say can be applied unevenly and has no single statutory meaning. and have sought her removal, KXII reports.
Her husband Jim Brown told reporters: “So they fraudulently arrested her. They scan your passport and that check violation was apparently flagged.”
Family members paint a distressing picture of detention conditions. Brown says his wife described the facility in Kentucky as “deplorable,” and that she was moved into an isolation cell after complaining about food that conflicted with a low-sodium diet.
He told The Irish Times: “They tried to feed her hot dogs and chili mac... She probably told them after the fifth time they tried to serve her: ‘I’m not eating that,’ so they locked her up.”
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What has made this case especially raw for the Browns is that Jim Brown, a 20-year veteran, says he voted for Donald Trump because of the president’s promises to crack down on criminal immigration. Now, he says, he “100 percent” regrets that vote.
“What’s bad is that Trump is so demeaning to people, and he’s so condescending and so retaliatory that people are afraid to say anything,” Brown told Newsweek, adding that he feels betrayed by a policy he once supported.
The Irish Times notes the case was brought under a July amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act, dubbed in reporting the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, which allows past violations over the preceding two decades to render long-term residents inadmissible. Critics argue the change sweeps up people with old, minor convictions and converts them into removal cases.
Hughes-Brown is due before an immigration judge in mid-September; her husband says they have assembled character witnesses and a legal team racing to halt removal.
A GoFundMe has been established to cover some of Donna and Jim's costs. The fundraiser has already raised over $5k.
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The page states that it was established to "fight for justice and freedom of his wife, Donna Hughes-Brown, who was wrongly detained and incarcerated this past July.
"The goal is to raise the resources necessary to cover the lawyers and court fees, and help Jim and Donna navigate these difficult, stressful and expensive times...
"Jim and Donna are both very strong supporters and helpers of our community. They are often involved with multiple volunteer organizations and projects. They both are hard-working, honest, and caring individuals. They are good servers of God; humble people who are always willing to help, and kind friends that share knowledge and wisdom with anyone in need."
In March 2025, Cliona Ward (54), another Irish green card holder who lives in California, was detained by ICE at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). She was detained due to two felonies for possession of drugs in December 2007 and January 2008, and four misdemeanors. She was released in May after an outcry from the public and aid of the Irish government.
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