ICE-Detained Mom Granted Green Card by Judge for 2 Months: What's Next?

A mother of four who was detained more than two months by federal authorities is returning to Wisconsin on Wednesday after being granted bond by an immigration judge, her attorney said.

Elvira Benitez Suarez, 51, of Sheboygan Falls, was released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on Tuesday amid an extended legal battle characterized as “particularly troubling” by her attorney as he prepares briefs in support of upholding a judge’s decision to grant her lawful permanent resident status.

Benitez Suarez, originally from Mexico, had lived in the United States for more than 36 years prior to her detainment, attorney Marc Christopher said.

Briefs for the federal government’s appeal must be filed by June 8, but the extended confinement of Benitez Suarez is especially unsettling, Christopher said.

“Her detention exposes the cruelty, waste, and profound absurdity of a system that now spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars imprisoning mothers, laborers, caregivers, and longtime community members who pose no danger to society,” he said. “People like Elvira are not threats. They are the very individuals who have spent decades contributing to this country while navigating an immigration process that often takes years-if not decades-to resolve.”

Benitez Suarez, who was arrested during a routine appointment in March, fled Mexico in 1990 when she was 15 after being sexually assaulted, Christopher previously told Newsweek.

She worked various jobs over the years, including a cleaning business she owns with her husband. They have four children, all of whom are U.S. citizens. Benitez Suarez and her husband, Ricardo Chavez, then accidentally entered Canada during a visit with their two youngest children to Niagara Falls in July, prompting federal authorities to detain the couple for more than five months.

Benitez Suarez later won a cancellation-of-removal hearing in December, allowing her to apply for a green card, but the government appealed the decision, Christopher previously said.

She was later detained by ICE agents during an immigration appointment on March 10 in Milwaukee, where she was taken into custody as she tried to leave. She was ultimately transferred to the Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials did not return an inquiry regarding Benitez Suarez on Wednesday but told Newsweek in March that she had been in the U.S. illegally.

“Being in detention is a choice,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”

Newsweek reached out to Benitez Suarez for comment on Wednesday.

“I know that she is mentally exhausted,” Christopher told Newsweek in an email.

Christopher insisted that his client compiled with federal officials at every stage throughout the immigration process, only to be separated from her family a second time.

“This case forces us to confront difficult questions about our national priorities and about what kind of immigration system we are becoming,” Christopher said in a statement. “A system that punishes humanity, compliance, family unity, and contribution rather than recognizing them is a system that has lost sight of fairness and basic human dignity.”

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 2:51 PM.