The husband of an Irish green card-holder being held in immigration detention is openly criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration drive — despite having backed Trump when he last voted.
“It’s crazy that this is happening. It’s just crazy that this is even allowed in this country. That’s the problem. It shouldn’t even be thought that this should be OK,” Jim Brown said in an interview with Fox affiliate KMOV, expressing disbelief at what his family is facing. Brown’s wife, Donna Hughes-Brown, originally from Ireland, came to the U.S. at age 11. They have been married for eight years, he said.
According to KMOV, U.S. Customs and Border Protection took Hughes-Brown into custody in July after she arrived in Chicago from Ireland, where she had attended a family funeral. Now 58, she has spent more than a month in detention and is currently facing deportation proceedings.
Federal law allows U.S. lawful residents to lose their green cards and be deported if they have committed particular offenses, including crimes of “moral turpitude,” a category courts commonly describe as “refers generally to conduct that shocks the public conscience as being inherently base, vile, or depraved.”
KMOV reviewed court records showing that Hughes-Brown wrote a $25 bad check nearly ten years ago, for which she repaid the amount and completed probation. Yet, Brown said the government argued her case falls under moral turpitude.
“I think it’s nonsense. I think it’s a blanket thing to catch everybody, to fill beds,” Brown told the station, frustrated at the explanation they had received. A DHS spokesperson told HuffPost, “A green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused.”
“Lawful Permanent Residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with certain criminal convictions may be found inadmissible, placed in removal proceedings, and subject to mandatory detention,” the spokesperson added.
A GoFundMe created to support Hughes-Brown’s legal expenses described the couple as “very strong supporters and helpers” within their Missouri community, regularly taking part in multiple volunteer groups and efforts.
“They are good servers of God; humble people who are always willing to help, and kind friends that share knowledge and wisdom with anyone in need,” a message on the fundraising page said. Brown told The Irish Times that he has been able to speak with his wife while she has been locked up, but he explained that recently Hughes-Brown was transferred into an isolation cell.
“[They] tried to feed her hot dogs and chilli mac … She probably told them after the fifth time they tried to serve her: ‘I’m not eating that,’” Brown said. “So they locked her up. I haven’t heard from her in three days now. It’s stupid.”
Brown said he has attempted to contact his Republican representatives — Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley — as well as ICE and the White House, but none have replied. Missouri’s Republican governor, Mike Kehoe, sent Brown a note saying the matter was a “federal issue.” “I want somebody to have the guts and the fortitude to stand up and say, ‘You know what? This is wrong,’” Brown insisted.
He told Newsweek at the end of last month that he now “100 percent” regrets casting his ballot for Trump. “Trump advertised that he was getting criminal illegal immigrants and deporting them, which I don’t disagree with. But that’s not what he’s doing,” Brown said.
