'Nobody is safe' Irish tourist detained in US for months after overstaying three days

Thomas, a 35-year-old tech worker from Ireland, came to West Virginia to visit his girlfriend last autumn.

- Sam Levin

It was one of many trips he had taken to the US, and he was authorized to travel under a visa waiver programme that allows tourists to stay in the country for 90 days.

He had planned to return to Ireland in December but was briefly unable to fly due to a health issue, his medical records show. He was only three days beyond his permitted time in the US when an encounter with police landed him in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by ICE in three different facilities, spending about 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held or when he would get out.

"Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it," he said a few months after his release.

He asked to be identified by a nickname out of fear of facing further consequences.

Despite immediately agreeing to deportation upon his arrest, Thomas remained in ICE detention after Donald Trump took office and dramatically ramped up immigration arrests.

Amid increased overcrowding in detention, Thomas was forced to spend part of his time in custody in a federal prison even though he was being held over an immigration violation.

He was sent back to Ireland in March and was told he was banned from entering the US for 10 years.

Thomas's ordeal follows a rise in reports of tourists and visitors with valid visas being detained by ICE, including those from Australia, Germany, Canada and the UK. In April, an Irish woman who is a US green card holder was detained by ICE for 17 days due to a nearly two-decade-old criminal record.