Polish green card holder detained 11 months over decades-old shoplifting charges, daughters fight for release
Aug 2, 2025 · Des Plaines, IL, Poland

Beata Siemionkowicz, a Polish-born green card holder who legally immigrated to the United States in 1995 and obtained her green card in 2003, was arrested by ICE agents on August 2, 2025, while gardening in her daughter's backyard in Des Plaines, Illinois. She was detained based on retail theft convictions from 2005 and 2011, and allegations of document fraud related to immigration benefits in 2001. Siemionkowicz worked as a commercial cleaner and hospice caregiver and was the sole provider for her household of two adult daughters, Claudia and Gabi. Since her arrest, she has remained in custody at Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky, where detainees reported conditions including black mold and dead bedbugs. Her daughter Gabi temporarily dropped out of nursing school to cover her mother's mortgage, utilities, and legal fees. An immigration judge issued a removal order on December 9, 2025, but her family has filed an appeal and is working with Senator Dick Durbin to seek her release.
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