A Sheboygan Falls mother will remain in ICE custody after a federal hearing Wednesday in Kentucky, where a judge requested additional information before deciding whether to release her on bond. The judge gave attorneys 10 days to file additional briefing on the case.
51-year-old Elvira Benitez Suarez has been held at the Campbell County Detention Center in Newport, Kentucky, for about two months. Her family, attorneys, and Voces de la Frontera have worked to secure her release.
Immigration attorney Marc Christopher, who represents Suarez, said the judge's request for more information delays a decision on her bond.
Watch: Sheboygan Falls mother remains in ICE custody as judge requests more information on her case
"She's going through a very difficult time."
Christopher said conditions at the facility where Suarez is being held are a concern.
"The conditions that she is in are very poor. From food to medical care, to just general conditions."
Christopher said Suarez should be released on bond because she is not a danger to the community or a flight risk.
"You can only take so much as a person. And so my hope is that we get a decision very soon and we get her reunited with her family."
This is not the first time Suarez has been in ICE custody. She was taken into custody last July and held at a facility in Ohio for months. Suarez fled Mexico when she was 15 years old after suffering sexual assault. She has no criminal history.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Suarez will have full due process. The spokesperson also said the United States is paying people in the country illegally $2,600 to self-deport.
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