Irish man Seamus Culleton held for months by ICE says he had U.S. work allow, and now fears for his life

An Irish man who has lived within the U.S. for almost 20 years has been detained by U.S. immigration officers for nearly 5 months regardless of insisting he had a legitimate U.S. work allow and a pending inexperienced card case because the partner of an American citizen. Seamus Culleton has mentioned he fears for his life because of the circumstances within the detention middle the place he is being held in Texas. 

Seamus Culleton, who lived in Boston, is being held on the El Paso Camp East Montana, an ICE detention facility contained in the Fort Bliss Military base in Texas, in response to the company’s detainee locator system. Chatting with Irish state broadcaster RTÉ in a telephone interview Monday from the detention middle, Culleton described life on the camp as a “nightmare.”

“You do not know what is going on to occur on a day-to-day foundation. You do not know if there’s going to be riots, you do not know what is going on to occur,” he informed RTÉ. He characterised the detention amenities as “a bunch of short-term tents.”

Culleton mentioned he had not often been exterior within the 5 months since his arrest. 

“I’ve barely any exterior time, no contemporary air, no sunshine. We have now two TVs on the wall. There are 72 detainees right here in whole. We get three meals a day, very very small meals — child dimension meals, so all people is hungry,” he mentioned.

Culleton known as the circumstances “filthy” and mentioned the bathrooms and showers have been “fully nasty” and “very not often cleaned.”

The U.S. Division of Homeland Safety, which ICE falls beneath, denied the allegations concerning the circumstances on the Texas facility on Tuesday, with Assistant DHS Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin telling CBS Information in an announcement that Culleton’s claims have been, “FALSE. ICE has larger detention requirements than most U.S. prisons that maintain precise U.S. residents.”

McLaughlin confirmed that ICE brokers arrested Culleton on Sept. 9, 2025, calling him “an unlawful alien from Eire” who entered the U.S. in 2009 beneath the vacationer visa waiver program however then did not depart the U.S. after the permitted 90 days. 

“He acquired full due course of and was issued a ultimate order of removing by an immigration decide on September 10, 2025,” McLaughlin mentioned. “He was supplied the possibility to immediately be eliminated to Eire however selected to remain in ICE custody … A pending inexperienced card utility and work authorization doesn’t give somebody authorized standing to be in our nation.”

Underneath U.S. regulation, DHS can arrest individuals with pending immigration functions if they do not have underlying everlasting immigration standing, even when they haven’t been convicted of crimes, however beneath earlier administrations, non-criminals with legitimate pending functions have been not often arrested, and officers would sometimes permit a inexperienced card case to play out.

McLaughlin mentioned Culleton was supplied an opportunity to be despatched to Eire “immediately.” She claimed he “selected to remain in ICE custody, in truth he took affirmative steps to stay in detention.”

Culleton has mentioned he was going via the authorized course of to acquire lawful everlasting residency, or a inexperienced card, and that he had a legitimate U.S. work allow when he was arrested. Spouses of U.S. nationals can get hold of a piece allow whereas their inexperienced card functions are processed.

Culleton, a plasterer, mentioned that he was stopped by federal brokers whereas driving house in early September after stopping at a retailer. He was adopted initially by a blue Ford, after which, “out of nowhere, it appeared like there have been seven or eight automobiles and a bunch of officers on the window of the van, telling me to roll down the window.”

“They requested me if I had a inexperienced card. I mentioned I did not. I mentioned I used to be married to a citizen and that I had a marriage-based petition in place and I used to be nearly to obtain my inexperienced card and that I had a piece allow to be right here and work,” Culleton informed RTÉ, including that none of these particulars appeared to matter because the officers proceeded to detain him.

Culleton was held after “native police ran a license examine on his automobile exterior a Dwelling Depot in Massachusetts,” court docket data from late January present.

Estimates from the Irish authorities a few yr in the past prompt that as many as 10,000 undocumented Irish immigrants have been dwelling throughout the U.S. Many possible got here on vacationer waivers or short-term work visas however then stayed illegally within the nation after these paperwork expired, successfully dwelling within the shadows.

A spokesperson for the Irish Division of International Affairs and Commerce informed CBS Information on Tuesday that Irish officers have been conscious of Culleton’s case and have been offering consular help to him and his household. 

“Our Embassy in Washington D.C. can also be participating straight with the Division of Homeland Safety at a senior stage in relation to this case,” the spokesperson mentioned.

In December, the American Civil Liberties Union and different human rights teams launched a letter demanding the closure of ERO El Paso Camp East Montana, alleging a sample of abuses on the camp together with beatings and sexual abuse by officers in opposition to detained immigrants, beatings and coercive threats to compel deportation to 3rd nations, medical neglect, starvation and inadequate meals, and denial of significant entry to counsel, amongst different alleged rights violations.