"It was dirty and full of bugs" Irish woman held by ICE tells of horrific conditions after being freed

Donna Brown-Hughes, who has been living in America for 47 years, was arrested and detained in July after she returned to the US following a trip to Ireland alongside her husband, US Navy veteran Jim Brown.

The couple had been cleared in customs in Dublin but were stopped in Chicago, where Donna was held due to two cheques that were not honoured ten years ago.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, Donna revealed how the first cheque was for a grocery store 13 years ago, "with the understanding that the cheque was fine."

On learning that the cheque had not been honoured, Donna corrected her error, however the cheque had already been reported to the Sheriff’s Office.

In 2015, a similar incident happened where a cheque for gas bounced.

"These were not large amount cheques, they weren’t cheques that were intended to defraud anybody, but regardless of my intent with them, the end result was the same. Neither cheque was honoured, at the time," she confirmed.

 Speaking about learning of her detainment, Donna said she was "absolutely floored." She was transferred to the ICE detention centre in Chicago after a few days at the airport.

She added that she spent most of her time in Kentucky in "not ideal" conditions.

"It had not been an ICE facility for very long; they hadn’t been used to having ICE detainees there, so there was a lot of things that happened there," Donna explained.

"It was dirty. There were all kinds of bugs in the holding cell when we first got there. There was faeces on the wall. They gave us mats that hadn’t been cleaned, and it smelled really, really bad. That wasn’t the worst of it.

"The food was horrific. I have certain food allergies, and they didn’t seem to make much matter for that. We would go without toilet paper. The showers and the toilets and the sinks would stop working, and it would take anywhere from four to five days to several weeks for them to getting fixed."

Speaking about her release, Donna said she was "still a little bit overwhelmed" and that she was ‘fortunate.’

She said: "I can’t help but think about everybody else that’s still waiting. Knowing that I was fortunate, but nothing’s really resolved s,o there’s a lot more work to be done."

Donna confirmed she did fear of being deported, admitting: "The premise of having that being an option really scared the bejesus out of me."

Fortunately, Donna is no longer deportable but has confirmed she doesn’t plan on visiting Ireland until she becomes an "actualised" US citizen.

When asked about her views on President Donald Trump, Donna revealed that she had ironically received a personalised letter from the 79-year-old in his first Presidential term.

The letter had been following Donna’s care towards a Korean prisoner of war.

"He’s the same one that ended up having me detained,’ Donna said, adding, ‘Maybe I’ll use it as a firestarter."

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.