ICE detain Irishman for five months despite valid papers

An Irishman currently detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has described the facilities as “like a modern-day concentration camp”.

- GRINNE N. AODHA

Seamus Culleton, originally from Co Kilkenny, has resided in the US for nearly two decades and is married to an American citizen.

He was apprehended by ICE agents in September 2025 while driving home from work, recalling how he first noticed a man in blue sunglasses before other agents appeared.

Mr Culleton is now appealing for Irish premier Micheal Martin to raise his case directly with US president Donald Trump during their scheduled meeting at the White House in March.

When asked if he had a green card, he said he did not, but that he was married to a US citizen, had a work permit and was due to receive his green card.

He was detained and initially put into a holding cell in Massachusetts before being taken to New York and then to the detention centre in El Paso, Texas. He claimed that ICE agents had tried to get him to sign deportation papers, which he said he “absolutely” did not.