He moved to the US over 20 years ago
08:04, 10 Feb 2026Updated 08:11, 10 Feb 2026
LFC fan Seamus Culleton has spent the past five months in an Ice detention centre
A Liverpool FC fan has spent the past five months going through “psychological and physical torture” in an ICE (Immigration and customs enforecement) detention centre. Seamus Culleton, from Glenmore, Co Kilkenny in Ireland moved to the US more than 20 years ago, but on September 9 Mr Culleton, who owns a plastering business in Boston, Massachusetts, was arrested and has been in Ice detention ever since.
He was carrying a valid work permit and a Massachusetts driving licence when he was pulled over, and only had one interview remaining in his green card application process. Now, he is living with 72 other people in a tent in a Texas detention centre and is pleading for help from the Irish government reports IrishMirror.
Speaking from the Ice facility in Ero El Paso Camp East Montana, Mr Culleton said he is currently experiencing “a nightmare”. He told RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline: “I’d love for you guys to just try to get me out of here. Do all you can please. It’s absolute torture, psychological torture, physical torture.
“Everybody’s sick. There’s Covid in every pod. There’s influenza in every pod. It’s just a horrible, horrible, horrible place. It’s very hard to stay positive in a situation like this. We’re often without hygiene products. We’re often without shampoo and soap.
“The showers are filthy, the toilets are filthy. Infection, disease and sickness is right here. I just want to get back to my wife. We were so desperate to start a family.”
Mr Culleton said it’s been extremely hard for his family in Ireland, adding: “My mother, especially, is heartbroken that I’m in here. She’s just heartbroken over the whole situation. I don’t want her health to get any worse. She’s constantly worrying and stressing about me. It’s not fair on her.”
Seamus Culleton with his wife Tiffany Smyth
His wife Tiffany Smyth said she won’t stop fighting for his release. She told KCLR that her husband has no criminal record, not even an unpaid parking ticket.
She said: “It’s hard to sleep when all I do is worry about him. I can’t believe what’s going on in this country. It’s awful how they are treated there.
“He has literally been kidnapped. He got taken in Massachusetts, he was moved eight hours to Buffalo, New York, he was there a week, then in the middle of the night they woke him up, put him on a plane to El Paso, Texas.
“He is living in hell. I don’t know how he is staying strong like he is. They are awful. The guys are hungry all the time. The facility where they are in the roof leaks and the guys’ beds get wet. They don’t have pillows. The bathrooms are disgusting.
“They barely get outdoor time. For a whole month Seamus didn’t get fresh air or to see the sun.” Ms Smith said she hopes that her husband will be released before Taoiseach Micheál Martin visits US President Donald Trump in the White House for St Patrick’s Day.
She said: “It’s been five months. Five months of hell for someone that has done nothing wrong. It’s only fair that he is released. I will do whatever I can. I wrote our president email after email, there is no help.”
Labour TD Duncan Smith said Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee must get the “full and clear picture” about the current situation facing Irish citizens.
He said: “Mr Culleton’s testimony is absolutely harrowing, and marries with what immigration lawyers on the ground tell us about the very real and disturbing conditions that Irish citizens are facing inside ICE detention facilities.
“This Government needs to stand up for Irish citizens abroad . The Minister must seek any and all information from the United States Department of Homeland Security to establish how many Irish citizens are currently detained.”
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