Soumia Bensalah was repeatedly transferred between the Pinellas County Jail and a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, where she was held for a total of 26 days despite regulations stating that immigrants should only be detained for a maximum of 72 hours. Bensalah, a French Moroccan with a pending green card application, experienced this process five times in December, which she described as exhausting and humiliating. Legal experts indicate that these repeat releases and rebookings circumvent federal rules designed to limit the detention of immigrants on civil charges.
The Pinellas County Jail cited federal immigration regulations to refuse the release logs documenting Bensalah's transfers. However, ProPublica obtained unredacted booking logs that revealed the extent of the rebookings, which are attributed to a lack of detention space for immigrants in Florida. The analysis showed that jails in Pinellas and Orange Counties had significantly higher rates of repeat rebookings compared to other jails nationwide.
From July 2025 to early February 2026, the Orange County Jail rebooked 559 immigrants multiple times, while Pinellas County rebooked 174 immigrants during a similar timeframe. These practices are said to violate ICE's own detention standards, which require adequate medical screenings and access to legal consultations.
Bensalah's detention followed an incident involving her U.S. citizen husband, leading to her arrest on battery charges, which were later dropped. Despite posting bond, she was not released due to an ICE detainer. Florida law mandates jails to collaborate with ICE, allowing for detentions of up to 48 hours, but Pinellas and Orange Counties had special contracts permitting holds for up to 72 hours.
A former senior DHS official indicated that Bensalah should have been released after 72 hours, but instead, she was transferred back to Pinellas County, where her rebookings began. A DHS spokesperson stated that ICE is not violating any laws and that Bensalah received due process. ProPublica's investigation highlights the implications of these practices, noting that all individuals rebooked at least twice in these counties spent over 72 hours in detention.