Beata Siemionkowicz, a Polish immigrant, green card holder and immigration detainee who sued the Campbell County jailer and several federal officials in September has been released.
Siemionkowicz’s daughter, Gabi Siemionkowicz, confirmed with LINK nky that Siemionkowicz’s family picked her up from the detention center Tuesday afternoon.
Siemionkowicz was detained by ICE in August 2025 in Illinois and transported to Campbell County Detention Center, which houses immigration detainees. She spent more than a year being detained there.
Siemionkowicz sued Campbell County Jailer James Daley and several federal officials in September of this year, alleging the federal government and detention center violated constitutional habeas corpus protections. It was filed with the aid of attorneys from the ACLU of Kentucky and Illinois, who demanded authorities furnish a reason for her detention or release her.
Siemionkowicz has been living legally in the United States since 1995. She got her green card in 2003. Gabi told LINK nky that her mother tried twice to go through the naturalization process but was unsuccessful.
DHS issued an order for her removal last summer, citing her criminal history. Siemionkowicz has two misdemeanor charges on her record, both in Lake County, Illinois. One occurred in 2005, and another occurred in 2011. Both charges were for retail theft, for which she was fined and subject to either supervision or conditional release. DHS characterized these crimes as crimes of “moral turpitude,” a somewhat vague term for which someone can be deported under federal law.
Siemionkowicz has not been convicted of any crimes since then, and the amounts for the retail theft were both less than $300, according to court documents. Federal Immigration Court denied Siemionkowicz a hearing for bond, which would have allowed her avoid long term detention, in late August 2025. The court then later denied her application to cancel her removal orders. Siemionkowicz has appealed these decisions, according to court documents.
Siemionkowicz’s lawsuit from this year was filed in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky — a separate court from federal immigration court, which is a special administrative court under the DOJ, rather than a court in the conventional judicial system. Siemionkowicz alleged that she had a right to a bond hearing and that the immigration court had failed to meet its burden of proof necessitating her detention.
United States District Judge Karen Caldwell issued an opinion on Nov. 3, which you can read here, granting Siemionkowicz a bond hearing and arguing that her detention had violated her constitutional rights to due process under the law. The District Court ruled the Immigration Court had to hold a bond hearing within seven days of Nov. 3.
LINK nky will update this story as we learn more.
