Beata Siemionkowicz spent her first night in Kentucky’s Campbell County Detention Center in a cell with black mold covering the air vents and dead bedbugs lingering in the room’s corners. There was blood smeared above the doorway.⁠
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Siemionkowicz shared that pod with 60 other women, many of whom, like herself, were immigrants in the United States detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.⁠
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The Poland native, a green card holder of more than two decades, was arrested days earlier in Des Plaines. Her first night in Campbell County was Aug. 4, 2025. She has remained incarcerated in northern Kentucky since, for the last 51 weeks.⁠
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Now, nearly one year later, Siemionkowicz’s family continues to fight for her freedom. Her former cellmate, whom she spent that first night with in Kentucky, may be the legal case study that will get her out of ICE custody, her friends and family hope.⁠
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Photo 1: Sisters Claudia, left, and Gabi Siemionkowicz stand in Claudia’s Des Plaines backyard on July 16, 2026, where their mother, Beata Siemionkowicz, was detained by ICE while gardening last August. ⁠
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Photo 2:⁠ Gabi, left, and Claudia talk about their mother.⁠
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📝 Allison Kiehl / Chicago Tribune⁠
📷️ Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune / @briancassella⁠