Seamus Culleton was arrested and detained despite only having one interview remaining in his green card application process
Seamus Culleton with his wife Tiffany Smyth.
An Irish man who has been held in an ICE detention centre for the last five months says he is going through “psychological and physical torture” and is calling on the Irish Government to help get him released.
Seamus Culleton, from Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny, has lived in the US for over 20 years and owns a plastering business in Boston, Massachusetts. In September, he was pulled over by ICE agents and has been in detention ever since.
The Kilkenny native was carrying a valid work permit and a Massachusetts driving licence when he was pulled over, and he had only one interview left in his green card application process. Now, he is living with 72 other people in a tent in a Texas detention centre.
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 rife here. I just want to get back to my wife. We were so desperate to start a family.”
Seamus Culleton has been living in the United States for more than 20 years has been held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials since being arrested last September.
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.”
Mr Culleton’s 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.
Micheál Martin presents U.S President Donald Trump with a bowl of clover during a St. Patrick’s Day event on March 12, 2025 in Washington, DC(Image: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
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.”
At least 66 Irish citizens faced deportation procedures in the United States last year, according to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Figures released by ICE show that between January and September 2025, 99 Irish citizens were deported.
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.”
