‘Like a concentration camp’: Irish man with valid work permit held by ICE for five months despite clean record and American wife

Seamus Culleton, an Irishman who has lived in the United States for 16 years with a valid work permit, has been held by ICE for nearly five months. Mr. Culleton has no criminal record and is married to an American citizen, yet he remains in a federal detention facility in Texas.

According to The Daily Beast, Mr. Culleton, originally from County Kilkenny in southeastern Ireland, was arrested by ICE agents at a hardware store in Boston on September 9 during a random immigration sweep.

His attorney, Ogor Winnie Okoye, explained that while Mr. Culleton initially entered the U.S. in 2009 under the Visa Waiver Program and overstayed the 90-day limit, his status had changed. After he married his American wife, Tiffany Smith, he applied for a green card last April. This process gave him a legal exemption and the valid work authorization that he was carrying when he was arrested.

The detention raises serious questions about immigration enforcement practices

Despite having his paperwork in order, Mr. Culleton was flown to an ICE facility in Buffalo, New York, just a few days after his arrest. While there, an agent interviewed him and asked him to sign a form agreeing to be deported. He refused because he had a valid work permit and a spouse who is a U.S. citizen. After refusing to sign, he was transferred to an ICE facility in El Paso, Texas.

During a bond hearing in November, a judge approved Mr. Culleton’s release after Ms. Smith paid a $4,000 bond. However, the government denied that bond and continued to hold him without any explanation. The case has drawn attention amid growing concerns about how ICE agents conduct enforcement operations.

When his attorney appealed to a federal court, two ICE agents claimed that Mr. Culleton had signed documents agreeing to be deported. Mr. Culleton strongly denies this, stating the signatures aren’t his. He wants handwriting experts to analyze the documents and says that video of his interview with the agents in Buffalo would prove he never agreed to deportation.

A judge sided with the federal agency despite acknowledging that there were “several irregularities” in the court documents provided by ICE. Mr. Culleton said, “My whole life is here. I worked so hard to build my business. My wife is here.” The detention comes as investigations into ICE agent misconduct face scrutiny.

Speaking in a phone interview from the facility, Mr. Culleton said that conditions there are “like a concentration camp; absolute hell.” He shares a cell with over 70 other men and reported that there are often fights over the small food portions, which he described as including “little child-sized juice containers.” 

A GoFundMe organized by a family friend noted that Mr. Culleton and Ms. Smith have already spent over $15,000 on lawyer fees since his detention began. Ms. Okoye stated, “It’s inexplicable that this man has been in detention. It does not make sense.”