Support Jim and Donna's Fight for Justice and Freedom

This Gofundme is being created to help prepare and support Jim Brown ‘s fight for justice and freedom of his wife, Donna Hughes-Brown, who was wrongly detained and incarcerated this past July. The goal is to raise the resources necessary to cover the lawyers and court fees, and help Jim and Donna navigate these difficult, stressful , and expensive times.

Jim and Donna are both very strong supporters and helpers of our community. They are often involved with multiple volunteer organizations and projects. They both are hardworking, honest, and caring individuals. They are good servers of God; humble people who are always willing to help, and kind friends that shares knowledge and wisdom with anyone in need.

Jim and Donna have been married 8 years now and they both have worked hard to grow their little farm and little by little, improve together. They are a sweet couple, very pleasant to talk and spend time with. They are trustworthy and very resourceful! I will repeat it again and again, they help anyone who needs it! They are always ready to help without expecting anything in exchange!

Background story:

On July 29, 2025 while returning home from a visit to Ireland Jim Brown and Donna Hughes-Brown were met by a US Customs agent upon landing at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. The agent detained Donna for questioning saying she needed to sign some paperwork and telling Jim he could not go with her and that she would be put on the next flight to St. Louis. Jim proceeded to come home and wait for a phone call from Donna. When that phone call finally came it was to say that she was being detained- not arrested- and that it was going to possibly take a day or two to sort through the misunderstanding. Unbeknownst to Donna and her family at that time, was that this new Big Beautiful Bill Act law had passed. This law targets not only illegal immigrants but also the LEGAL immigrants who have been living here legally for decades. The Big Beautiful Bill Act states that any permanent resident alien (with a valid green card) or anyone with a valid work/humanitarian/investing (or whichever) visa, that has had any minor infraction on their record (including speeding tickets or other minor misdemeanor traffic violations), are subjected to being “detained” until they are given a court date for potential bond release. After that, a following court date will be scheduled to discuss possible deportation.

Donna was born in England and moved to America in 1977 with her parents and brother when she was 11 years old and has since then lived here LEGALLY as a permanent resident alien. She has worked here, paid taxes here, raised her children here, etc. Unfortunately Donna had one of those minor misdemeanor infractions (-a bad check- like many Americans have also had) TEN YEARS ago in 2015. Her original infraction was resolved and completely taken care of. This should NEVER have come back to haunt her in such an outsized and cruel way.

After spending 5 days being detained in Chicago (again, not arrested for anything) she was transported to a detention facility in Kentucky which is where she has been sitting since August 4th. She was given an original bond hearing date of August 13th and despite her being given paperwork with this information on it, ICE messed up and didn’t put her case on the docket for that day!! It was rescheduled for August 15th. Donna, her family, and her immigration lawyer were feeling fairly hopeful that the immigration judge would grant her bond and release her until her September 17th deportation hearing. All our hopes were shattered when a Department of Homeland Security lawyer spoke to the judge at her bond hearing stating that all these new rules meant the judge could not use his discretion to grant her bond (which he was just about to do!)

Donna’s lawyer has been working very hard to appeal and has successfully gotten Donna a new bond hearing for August 26th.

Jim is currently in the process of hiring a criminal attorney to help get her misdemeanor infraction from 10 years ago expunged from her record in hopes that ICE will no longer have grounds to “detain” her. Please join us in showing Donna your support for this injustice, and help us spread the word about what is being done to HUNDREDS if not thousands of LEGAL immigrants.