CBS 58 exclusive: 1-on-1 with Sheboygan mom Elvira Benitez as she details being detained twice by ICE

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- In a CBS 58 exclusive, we hear about the journey of a Sheboygan mother detained by immigration officials twice.

Elvira Benitez was granted a green card by a judge in December. Yet in March, she was detained once again by ICE.

"How do I tell them that I'm in a place like this when I haven't done -- when I haven't committed a crime?" -- Elvira Benitez

"She's very sweet, she's very happy. She is a very faithful Christian woman. She loves to dress up. She loves to be in nature. She enjoys taking photographs. Before this happened, the day before, she was - she actually went hiking, and she was posting pictures of herself, posting pictures of being outdoors... the caption was like, 'enjoying my freedom,'" shared Crystal Aguilar, the oldest daughter of Elvira Benitez, when we spoke with her in March.

Fifty-one-year-old Elvira Benitez has lived in the United States for 36 years, building a family of four kids and four grandkids. She came to the U.S. as a teenage survivor of human trafficking and domestic violence. Her attorney, Marc Christopher, explained that Benitez sought to begin her application for legal residency about a decade ago, when her daughter turned 21, which would aid in the speed of obtaining legal residency. However, she was unable to proceed further until her husband's process to become a lawful permanent resident was complete. 

Yet for nine months this past year, Benitez said she felt terrified. "I feel like I've been persecuted and put in those institutions that I do not belong there," she said. She had been living in federal jail next to criminals after being detained by ICE, saying she was even threatened by an inmate.

It all started last July when she was on a family vacation and they took a wrong exit, ending up in Canada. Benitez and her husband, who started his application for legal residency in the 90s, were detained for six months in Ohio.

"Many nights I thought of how ... [if] I don't return back home, and my kids never see me again," shared Benitez.

A judge late last year granted both Benitez and her husband a green card, citing "undue hardship" on their family. It was on Dec. 19 that Benitez was allowed to come back to Wisconsin, welcomed home with flowers, tears, and hugs.

Benitez was able to spend Christmas with her family as well as her birthday.

"I was very happy, and I'm like, okay, this is over. Finally, I'm gonna go back home, I'm gonna enjoy my kids," she continued.

But just a few months later, on March 10, when she went in for a routine check-in with ICE in Milwaukee, she was detained again. "I was devastated, I couldn't speak there, it was very hard for me to -- what it was gonna, what was gonna happen with my kids again? Knowing that I went for an interview, and then mom [is] disappearing again."

The U.S. government had appealed the judge's decision to let her out. So Benitez was taken to Chicago, then Indianapolis, then Kentucky. We were with Benitez's daughter, Crystal, when she found out her mom had been moved without notice. She said it was exhausting mentally and emotionally as she was taken "from court to court" without "clear answers or clear outcomes."

Aguilar and her other sister had stepped in to take care of the family business and younger siblings, who were having a hard time being away from their mom for months on end. "For me, I have anxiety and panic attacks. And whenever she was here, she’d help me with that. But since she’s not there, I have to rely on myself now," shared the youngest daughter, 11 years old, at a press conference just after her mother had been taken into ICE custody a second time.

Benitez was emotional as she explained that because she was in ICE custody for nearly three-quarters of the year, she "missed everything. Everything- almost nine months away from my kids."

That meant missing milestones, like birthdays, which were instead celebrated over video calls. In one video shared with us by the family, you hear Benitez, over the phone, tell her child, sitting in front of his birthday cake, "Remember, I'm almost home, ok? I just want you to remember how much you are loved by mom and dad, and we are so proud of you." The son asks if her court case is on Wednesday, to which Benitez replied, "Yes. Wow, I love the cake!" Benitez said she had to pretend she was strong over the calls to her children so they wouldn't see her crying.

Benitez says medical attention was hard to come by while in jail. Even with a pre-existing medical condition concerning her stomach and diet, she said it took weeks to see a doctor and get antibiotics to treat an infection. "It's like nobody's listening, like nobody can hear me, you know? I need help, I need to get home, I shouldn't be here," she continued.

"Every day, we feel in those places like nobody's listening. Nobody knows that we are in those places." -- Elvira Benitez

After nearly three months in a jail five states away, a judge granted her bond, and she was reunited, at last. "I cannot explain in words, but you know, it's like I was able to hug them again, tell them how much I love them, that I will never leave them, I will never leave my kids, and telling them, like, do not, don't be afraid. Because they fear now... my kids fear that any time, they want to take mom or dad again."

"I'm feeling happy that I'm finally home with my family. It was a long process, and I am very.. I feel blessed." -- Elvira Benitez

Her case is still not over, though. She has to do weekly virtual check-ins showing her location. Her lawyer says despite her legal permanent resident status and no criminal history, it could still be up to two years until it's over.

"I'm fighting a case that a judge granted me my green card, and it's not like they just give it to me. I've been living here 36 years, and having respected this country, I love this country, and I have honored this country, and this is the country of my kids and my grandkids, and I wanted to be part of their life. I want to be able to enrich my communities, my city, my church, and I want to be able to help others," shared Benitez.

The family has created a GoFundMe to help pay for legal costs. You can find it here.