Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has responded to an Irish man who has been residing in the Boston area for over two decades. He was detained for overstaying his visa.
A legal decision from a court in Texas reveals that Seamus Culleton first arrived in the United States in 2009 on a 90-day tourist visa. Presently, he has established a life in the US, married a citizen, and sought a green card to prolong his stay and remain with his spouse.
However, an El Paso federal judge rejected his application, and Seamus continues to be held in a detention center, which he described as ‘torture’.
During a conversation with RTÉ radio from the center in El Paso, the 42-year-old expressed that he is ‘in fear for my life here’, stating: “The best way I could describe it is probably like a modern-day concentration camp. People have been killed by the security staff here. You don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. It’s a nightmare down here.”
The man from Ireland also shared that he has been confined to a room with over 70 other detainees in substandard conditions, lacking sufficient food and water.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis,” he told RTÉ. “You don’t know if there’s going to be riots, you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a nightmare down here. Showers and toilets were ‘filthy’ and daily meals were child-sized. So everybody is hungry.”
The Kilkenny resident, who has been detained since September 2025, claims he has been accommodated in a ‘tent’ the size of a ’16ft by 35ft room with no ceiling’.
“I don’t know how much more I can take. I just want to get back to my wife. We’re so desperate to start a family,” Seamus added.
ICE responded to the comments made by the Irishman, issuing a direct tweet on X.
They stated: “This man overstayed his visa… BY 16 YEARS. We are a nation of law and order — overstaying your visa violates federal immigration law.”
https://twitter.com/ICEgov/status/2022376526797508783
A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Tricia McLaughlin, previously informed CNN that Seamus was detained on September 9 of the previous year and ‘received full due process and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on September 10, 2025’.
She further explained: “He was offered the chance to instantly be removed to Ireland but chose to stay in ICE custody, in fact, he took affirmative steps to remain in detention. A pending green card application and work authorization does not give someone legal status to be in our country.”