Immigration judge grants bond to Wisconsin woman in ICE custody

Listen to this article

In Brief

• Judge Kelly Johnson grants $1,500 bond to Elvira Benitez-Suarez.
• Benitez-Suarez has lived in U.S. for 36 years with no criminal record.
• Federal appeals court ruling requires bond opportunity for long-term detainees.
• Benitez-Suarez’s attorneys filed habeas petition in Kentucky district court.

SHEBOYGAN FALLS, Wis.  – A Sheboygan Falls woman who has been in immigration custody in Kentucky for more than two months is closer to a possible release after an immigration judge granted her bond.

Judge Kelly Johnson granted Elvira Benitez-Suarez, 51, a bond of $1,500 — which is the lowest amount allowed under federal law — during a May 21 hearing in Memphis, Tennessee, according to her attorney, Marc Christopher. This gives Benitez-Suarez the opportunity to be released from ICE custody while her immigration case proceeds.

Christopher said the judge reviewed Benitez-Suarez’s history in the United States, lack of criminal record and community and family ties, determining she wasn’t a flight risk nor a danger to the community.

Benitez-Suarez has resided in the U.S. for 36 years. She has four U.S. citizen children and four grandchildren. She owns a business with her husband, and is involved in her church and children’s school. At 15 years old, she fled sexual assault and domestic violence in Mexico.

“This is a very big win for Elvira,” Christopher said.

Benitez-Suarez will remain in ICE custody for at least several more days while the federal government decides if it will appeal the judge’s decision, he said.

This is the latest development in Benitez-Suarez’s second immigration case, which began when she was re-detained during a check-in appointment in Milwaukee in March. She was there in relation to her first immigration case.

Last summer, Benitez-Suarez had accidentally crossed the United States-Canada border with her family on a road trip to Niagara Falls as a result of a GPS issue.

She was detained and spent six months in ICE detention in Ohio before a federal immigration judge determined her deportation would cause extreme hardship to her two youngest children and that she should be given a green card. The federal government appealed that decision, so she has not yet been granted legal permanent residency.

After Benitez-Suarez’s arrest in Milwaukee, Christopher and another immigration attorney based on Ohio, Nazly Mamedova, began working to secure her immediate release from detention, filing a habeas petition in a Kentucky district court to challenge her arrest.

Those proceedings were paused after a federal appeals court ruled earlier in May that immigrants in detention who have lived in the U.S. for years must be given an opportunity argue for their release on bond.

If Johnson’s decision is appealed, Christopher said Benitez-Suarez will stay in custody and her legal team will resume the habeas petition efforts.