Missouri grandmother detained by ICE will spend Thanksgiving behind bars despite legal status

TROY, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A Troy, Missouri, grandmother will spend Thanksgiving behind bars after being detained by ICE, even though she is in the country legally and has not been charged with a new crime.

Donna Hughes Brown, an Irish citizen and legal resident alien, has been held in a Kentucky detention facility while federal officials seek to deport her over misdemeanor bad check charges from more than a decade ago. Her immigration case has been delayed again, this time until December 18.

Brown came to the United States when she was 11 years old and holds a green card, making her a legal resident alien but not a U.S. citizen. The government argues that her past bad check charges constitute crimes of moral turpitude and warrant deportation.

Her husband, Jim Brown, said their arguments are all wrong.

“Please show me in the Bible where this is what you are supposed to do. It’s wrong. Period,” Jim Brown said. “Because she’s 100% innocent. Including being legal in this country.”

Jim Brown said his wife was trying to provide for her family when the bad check incidents occurred.

“She was trying to feed her family. So, we’re arresting people that’s trying to feed their family is what they’re doing,” he said.

Immigration cases are not open to the public, but Jim Brown said his wife’s case has been continued three times. He fears it will be delayed again.

“She hasn’t ever been heard as far as trial goes, which is nonsense that she even has to go through a freaking trial for this,” Jim Brown said. “Why in the world should she have to go through trial for something that she already paid for that was a misdemeanor?”

Speaking by phone from the detention facility to a Cincinnati television station, Donna Brown said the experience has been difficult.

“It has been absolutely horrible,” she said. “I didn’t feel there was a threat of any of this happening to me. I’m here legally. Did I commit a crime many, many years ago? Yes, I did. Did I pay for that crime, many, many years ago? Yes, I did.”

After multiple inquiries, an ICE spokesperson provided a statement to First Alert 4 Investigates.

“Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is prioritizing the removal of criminal alien offenders who pose a threat to public safety and the rule of law,” the statement said. “Individuals who are in the United States lawfully and have not violated immigration laws or committed crimes have no reason to fear enforcement actions.”

Jim Brown disputes that his wife poses any threat.

“How in the world can you get by with hurting people that haven’t done anything wrong?” he said.

We asked him what he’d like to say to federal officials.

“I think that, first of all, they need to go to church,” Jim Brown said. “And they need to realize that tearing families apart that haven’t caused crime is absolutely wrong.”

Donna Brown’s next court date is scheduled for December 18.

Jim Brown said Missouri lawmakers have not helped his wife’s case, but he spoke with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who said she will do what she can to get Donna released.