Irish grandmother to be released from US custody

Ottoline Spearman

An Irish grandmother who has been held in a US immigration detention centre since July will be released in the coming days following a court hearing on Thursday.

Donna Hughes-Brown, a 58-year-old US green card holder, has been a permanent resident in the US since she was 11, reports the Irish Times. She filed a bond after an immigration judge ruled that she should be released.

According to the Irish Times, her husband, Jim Brown, said after the court hearing that she was no longer deportable, and that the Department of Homeland Security could still appeal the decision, although they "doubt" that will happen.

Mrs Hughes Brown was detained in July this year, when she was apprehended at an airport in Chicago while returning to the US after a visit to Ireland.

Her record showed she had signed two bad cheques, totalling less than $80, over a decade ago.