An Irish man with a valid US work permit and no criminal record has spent five months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention, facing deportation despite being a 'model immigrant', his lawyer has said. Seamus Culleton, originally from County Kilkenny, has lived in the US for two decades, is married to a US citizen and runs a plastering business in the Boston area.
Culleton was arrested on 9 September 2025 during a random immigration sweep at a hardware store, according to his lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye of BOS Legal Group in Massachusetts. He had entered the US on a visa waiver programme in 2009 and overstayed the 90-day limit, but after marrying a US citizen and applying for lawful permanent residence, he obtained a statutory exemption allowing him to work while his green card application was processed.
Detained initially near Boston and in Buffalo, New York, Culleton was later flown to a facility in El Paso, Texas, where he shares a cell with more than 70 men. He described the conditions as cold, damp and squalid, with fights over insufficient food, calling it 'like a concentration camp, absolute hell'. His wife, Tiffany Smyth, said he has lost weight and hair, and developed sores and infections due to lack of hygiene and denied antibiotics for four weeks.
Despite a judge approving his release on a $4,000 bond in November, ICE continued to detain him, initially without explanation. When his attorney appealed, ICE agents claimed Culleton had signed documents agreeing to deportation, which he denies. 'My whole life is here,' he said. The judge noted irregularities in ICE's documents but sided with the agency. Culleton cannot appeal under US law but hopes handwriting experts can examine the signatures. His lawyer described the government's actions as 'inept and capricious', while Culleton called the uncertainty 'psychological torture'. Previous cases involving Irish citizens include Cliona Ward, detained for 17 days over an old criminal record, and a tech worker jailed for 100 days after overstaying by three days.
