NORTHERN KENTUCKY — Donna Hughes-Brown spent nearly five months in immigration detention in 2025, much of it at the Campbell County Detention Center, despite being a legal permanent resident of the United States.
Hughes-Brown, who moved to the U.S. from Europe with her family in 1978, was detained after returning from a trip to Ireland in July 2025. She was separated from her husband at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Immigration authorities cited two misdemeanor bad-check convictions from Missouri in 2012 and 2015 as crimes involving “moral turpitude,” making her eligible for deportation under federal law.
The checks, both for less than $50, resulted in probation but no jail time. Hughes-Brown said the checks were not written with fraudulent intent and that she had long since completed her sentences.
After initial processing in Illinois, Hughes-Brown was transported to the Campbell County Detention Center in Northern Kentucky, where she remained for several months awaiting immigration hearings. She described overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, delays in receiving prescribed medications, and retaliation after raising concerns, including time spent in isolation.
Her husband, Jim Brown, a U.S. Navy veteran, filed complaints with state agencies and contacted lawmakers, alleging inadequate medical care and poor living conditions at the jail. Campbell County officials have disputed claims of mistreatment and said detainees are treated the same as other inmates.
Hughes-Brown’s case drew national attention in the fall, leading to questions during a December congressional hearing. About a week later, on Dec. 18, she was released from custody following an immigration court hearing. Authorities have not publicly explained the basis for her release.
Hughes-Brown said she wants to apply for U.S. citizenship and return to work but cannot do so because the federal government has not yet returned her passport and residency documents.
“I don’t care who started it or what party you belong to,” Hughes-Brown said. “It has got to stop.”
Her story has renewed local debate over the use of Northern Kentucky jails to house federal immigration detainees and the broader impact of immigration detention across the region.
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