According to a report from Newsweek on Tuesday, a green card holder is being detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Kentucky for nearly a year due to allegations of early theft and “forging documents to obtain immigration benefits” and may face deportation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated in a press release that Beata Siemionkowicz is a “criminal foreign national from Poland, who has been arrested multiple times for shoplifting.”
The statement mentioned, “She legally entered the United States on November 18, 1995, failed to depart by February 16, 1996, overstayed, violating our laws, forged documents to obtain immigration benefits in 2001, and obtained a green card in January 2003.”
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicated that she “had been arrested twice for retail theft in Illinois: once in September 2005 and again in October 2011.”
Reported by the Chicago Tribune, she was charged with misdemeanors of retail theft at Jewel and Kohl’s stores in 2005 and 2011 respectively. According to the report, Siemionkowicz was arrested in Des Plaines, Illinois, in August 2025 where she was living with her daughters Claudia (25) and Gabi (21).
After her arrest, she spent two days at the Broadview Detention Center in the suburbs of Chicago before being transferred to the Campbell County Detention Center in Newport, Kentucky, where she has been detained for almost a year.
A DHS spokesperson stated, “For decades, Siemionkowicz has been mocking our immigration system and laws. On December 9, 2025, an immigration judge issued a deportation order against her. She will remain in ICE custody until deported.”
Her two daughters mentioned in a GoFundMe campaign, “Beata and her family acknowledge her two past minor theft cases, and she admitted to the charges”, with the theft amounts in 2001 and 2003 being “less than $150.”
Donna Hughes-Brown, who was detained with Siemionkowicz at the Kentucky detention center in 2025, told Newsweek that Siemionkowicz has filed a lawsuit against charges from decades ago, but ICE deemed theft as “moral turpitude”.
Under U.S. immigration law, certain criminal behaviors may be classified as crimes involving moral turpitude, typically including offenses like fraud, theft, or dishonesty, which could lead to deportation or other immigration penalties.
A DHS spokesperson added in an email to Newsweek, “Having a green card is a privilege, not a right. According to our laws, the government has the authority to revoke a green card if someone violates or abuses the law.”
Her family has appealed and is working with Democratic Senator Dick Durbin to advocate for her release.
(This article references reporting from Newsweek)