Sheboygan Mother in ICE Custody for Over 2 Months Is Released
Attorney for Elvira Benitez-Suarez said she was granted bond by administrative judge.
Elvira Benitez Suarez was taken into custody by ICE officers on March 10, 2026. Photo courtesy of Crystal Aguilar
A Sheboygan Falls woman who has been in ICE custody for over two months has been released after being granted bond by an immigration judge.
Elvira Benitez-Suarez, 51, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a routine immigration check-in in Milwaukee in March.
Her detention came after a judge ruled late last year that she could obtain a green card. The federal government appealed that decision — the appeal is currently pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals — and she was taken into custody while that case was pending.
Benitez-Suarez has been in ICE custody at the Campbell County Detention Center in Kentucky since March. Her immigration attorney, Marc Christopher, previously told WPR the agency had “no reason to detain her, whatsoever.”
On Thursday, an immigration judge in Tennessee granted her a bond of $1,500. Christopher said that’s the lowest amount allowed.
“To get a bond that low you really have to demonstrate that you’re not a flight risk and not a danger,” Christopher said. “Even during my arguments, I said if she doesn’t warrant the lowest bond available, I don’t know who does.”
Christopher said Benitez-Suarez was released from custody on Tuesday after her bond was posted. In a phone interview late Tuesday afternoon, he said her family is on their way to pick her up and bring her home.
He called her release a “huge relief” and said he talked to her on Tuesday.
“I would just say that she sounded like she was in a state of disbelief,” Christopher said. “I think, you know, there’s that feeling that, ‘oh my gosh, what’s going to happen next?’”
Benitez-Suarez has four children, two of whom are adults, as well as a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old who are still living at home. All four are U.S. citizens.
“I don’t think that she’s going to feel safe for some time until she’s back home and has spent some time with her family,” Christopher said.
Elvira Benitez-Suarez is seen here. Photo courtesy of Crystal Aguilar
Benitez-Suarez fled from Mexico to the United States at the age of 15 after she was the victim of sexual assault, Christopher said. He said she has no criminal record. Her daughter, Crystal Aguilar, told WPR her mother has her own cleaning business and is involved with a local church.
She was first detained last year by U.S. Customs and Border Protection after she accidentally entered Canada. She was held at an ICE detention facility in Ohio for more than five months.
The judge in that case decided she could get her green card, which would allow her to live and work permanently in the U.S. The federal government has appealed that decision.
Christopher said the briefs for the appeal are due in early June. He said a decision could take anywhere from one year to 18 months after the briefs are filed.
In a Tuesday email, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed Benitez-Suarez was granted bond.
Wisconsin mother who has been in ICE custody for over 2 months is released was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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