Seamus Culleton’s five-month detention in “concentration camp” conditions raises urgent questions about ICE procedures and immigrant rights

An Irish immigrant with a valid work permit and a pending green card application has been held in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention for nearly five months despite having no criminal record—not even a parking ticket. Seamus Culleton, 42, was arrested on September 9, 2025, while driving home from work in Massachusetts, and now sits in an El Paso, Texas detention facility he describes as “like a modern-day concentration camp.” His case exposes serious flaws in America’s immigration detention system and raises urgent questions about due process, humane treatment, and the need for immediate reform.

Culleton’s story isn’t just about one man’s nightmare. It’s about a broken system that can trap legal immigrants in deplorable conditions for months without clear justification. As his wife Tiffany Smyth told reporters, “I would never wish this on anyone or their family.”

The Arrest: A Routine Day Turns Into a Five-Month Ordeal

According to The Guardian, Culleton was buying supplies at a hardware store on September 9, 2025, when ICE agents followed and arrested him. Originally from County Kilkenny, Ireland, Culleton had been living in the United States for nearly two decades, running a successful plastering business in the Boston area.

At the time of his arrest, Culleton was carrying:

• A valid Massachusetts driver’s license
• A valid work permit issued by the U.S. government
• Documentation of his pending green card application filed in April 2025

Despite these documents, ICE agents detained him immediately. His wife received only a brief phone call before he disappeared into the detention system.

“To know he was just taken, and he or I had no idea where they were taking him, was traumatizing,” Smyth told The Irish Times.

The Legal Limbo: When the System Contradicts Itself

Culleton entered the United States in 2009 on a visa waiver program and overstayed the 90-day limit. However, after marrying U.S. citizen Tiffany Smyth and applying for lawful permanent residence, he obtained a statutory exemption that allowed him to work legally, according to his attorney Ogor Winnie Okoye of BOS Legal Group in Massachusetts.

“He had a work-approved authorization that is tied to a green card application,” Okoye explained to The Guardian.

The detention prevented Culleton from attending his final green card interview in October—the very interview that would have confirmed his legal status. As Culleton himself put it: “You have one section of the government trying to deport me, and another trying to give me a green card.”

Disputed Deportation Documents Raise Red Flags

After five days in a Massachusetts holding cell, Culleton was flown to Buffalo, New York, where ICE agents asked him to sign deportation papers. Culleton says he refused and instead checked a box indicating he wished to contest his arrest on the grounds that he was married to a U.S. citizen and had a valid work permit.

In November, a judge approved his release on a $4,000 bond, which his wife paid. But nothing happened. The U.S. government denied the bond without initial explanation—an unusual move, especially given that federal courts are currently “deluged” with ICE detainee bond hearings, and most applicants are being released.

When Okoye appealed to federal court, two ICE agents claimed Culleton had signed documents agreeing to deportation in Buffalo. Culleton adamantly denies this and says the signatures are not his.

“My whole life is here. I worked so hard to build my business. My wife is here,” he told The Irish Times.

Although the judge noted “numerous irregularities” in ICE’s court documents, she ultimately sided with the agency. Under U.S. law, Culleton cannot appeal further, though he wants handwriting experts to examine the signatures and believes video footage from his Buffalo interview would prove he refused to sign.

Inside the El Paso Detention Center: ‘Absolute Hell’

From Buffalo, Culleton was flown to an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas, where he has been locked in the same room for over four months with more than 70 other men.

In a phone interview with RTÉ’s Liveline program, Culleton described conditions that sound more like punishment than detention:

Overcrowding and Confinement:

• 72 people crammed into a tent measuring approximately 16 feet by 35 feet
• Two rows of bunk beds on either side with a long table down the middle
• No ceiling
• Locked in the same room for 4.5 months with barely any outside time

Inadequate Food:

• Child-sized meal portions served at communal tables
• Constant hunger among detainees
• Frequent fights over food, “even over those little child-sized juice containers”

Poor Sanitation:

• “Filthy” toilets and showers
• Rampant illness among detainees
• Limited access to medical care (Culleton has been requesting antibiotics for four weeks)

Minimal Fresh Air and Exercise:

• Allowed outside fewer than 12 times in nearly five months
• No access to sunshine or fresh air
• Most days spent lying on a bed

Psychological Toll:

• Atmosphere filled with “anxiety and depression”
• Culleton says he fears for his life from the security staff, not other inmates
• “I’m not in fear of the other inmates. I’m afraid of the staff. They’re capable of anything,” he told The Guardian.

“There is no real quality of life here,” Culleton said. “It’s just torture. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

His sister Caroline told reporters he has lost “an awful lot of weight” and is suffering from sores, infections, and hair loss.

The Human Cost: Families Torn Apart

The detention has devastated Culleton’s family on both sides of the Atlantic. His wife Tiffany has endured five months of “heartbreak, stress, anxiety and anger.” She didn’t hear from him for almost a week after his initial arrest and had “no idea if he was safe.”

When she tried to visit him in Texas, booking flights from Massachusetts to attend one of his court dates, the hearing was moved the day before her journey.

“He’s a good man. I don’t think anyone deserves this, but Seamus definitely doesn’t deserve this,” she said.

In Ireland, Culleton’s mother is “heartbroken” by the situation. “My own family in Ireland is also suffering, my mother especially,” Culleton said. “She is heartbroken. I don’t want her health to get any worse. She’s constantly worrying and stressing about me.”

His sister Caroline added: “What concerns the family most is Seamus and how he is coping, his physical and emotional state; the conditions that he is forced to bear are beyond comprehension. We are totally devastated by this situation, it’s a torment on a daily basis.”

The couple had been planning to start a family. “I just want to get back to my wife. We’re so desperate to start a family,” Culleton said.

A Pattern of Problematic ICE Enforcement

Culleton’s case is not isolated. According to The New Republic, figures released in early 2026 showed that less than 14% of almost 400,000 immigrants arrested by ICE in the first year of Trump’s second term had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses—undercutting the administration’s claim to be targeting “the worst of the worst.”

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs reported that the number of Irish citizens seeking consular assistance about deportation from the U.S. jumped from 15 in 2024 to 65 in 2025. Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee has stated there are “five to six” cases similar to Culleton’s involving Irish people held by ICE.

Previous high-profile cases include Cliona Ward, who had a green card but was detained by ICE for 17 days over a criminal record from more than 20 years ago, and an Irish tech worker who overstayed his visa by three days and agreed to deportation but was jailed for about 100 days.

Legal Expert: ‘It’s Inexplicable’

Culleton’s attorney Ogor Winnie Okoye says his case is highly unusual and that before the current administration, someone in his situation would not have been detained and would almost certainly be granted the residency and employment permissions applied for.

“Here’s a gentleman who is a model immigrant. He owned a successful business, he’s married to a US citizen,” Okoye told The Guardian. “It’s inexplicable that this man has been in detention.”

She noted that Culleton was picked up in a random immigration sweep and continues to be held without charging documents. The U.S. government has a “discretionary” option to simply release him but has not done so.

“There’s no reason why the government shouldn’t just release him and allow him to attend the interview that will confirm his legal status,” Okoye said.

She added that the U.S. government has acted in an “inept” and “capricious” manner, and that Culleton’s case is being handled by the fifth circuit court of appeals in Texas, which she described as the “least immigrant-friendly” court.

International Diplomatic Pressure Mounts

Culleton has made a direct appeal to Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin to raise his case with President Donald Trump during their scheduled White House meeting in March for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

“Just try to get me out of here and do all you can, please. It’s an absolute torture, psychological and physical torture,” Culleton told RTÉ radio. “I’ll take any help I can get now at this point.”

Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is providing consular assistance via the Irish consulate in Austin, Texas, and that the embassy in Washington is engaging with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at a “senior level.”

Speaking to reporters, the Taoiseach said he hoped Culleton would be released and expressed concern at the conditions of his detention, though he did not commit to raising the case with Trump.

The case could complicate Dublin’s efforts to maintain good relations with the White House, which has criticized Ireland over corporate tax, trade, and immigration issues.

The Urgent Need for Detention Reform

Culleton’s case highlights systemic problems that demand immediate attention and reform:

1. Lack of Due Process
When someone with valid work authorization and a pending legal status application can be detained for months without clear justification, the system has failed. The disputed signatures and irregularities noted by a federal judge suggest serious procedural problems.

2. Inhumane Detention Conditions
No human being should be held in conditions Culleton describes—overcrowded rooms, inadequate food, filthy sanitation, and virtually no access to fresh air or exercise. These conditions violate basic human dignity and international standards for detention.

3. Inadequate Medical Care
Culleton’s reports of widespread illness, his own infections and sores, and his four-week wait for antibiotics indicate a dangerous lack of medical attention that could have life-threatening consequences.

4. Psychological Harm
The psychological torture of indefinite detention in deplorable conditions, separated from loved ones, with no clear path to resolution, causes lasting trauma that extends far beyond the detention period.

5. Family Separation
Detaining someone who poses no flight risk or danger to the community—someone married to a U.S. citizen, with an established business and pending legal status—serves no legitimate purpose and causes immense suffering to families.

6. Lack of Transparency and Accountability
The contradictions in Culleton’s case—disputed signatures, denied bonds despite judicial approval, irregularities in court documents—suggest a system operating without adequate oversight or accountability.

What Needs to Change: A Call for Action

Immediate Reforms Needed:

Better Facility Standards:

• Regular independent inspections of all ICE detention facilities
• Mandatory minimum standards for space, sanitation, food, and medical care
• Access to fresh air and exercise for at least one hour daily
• Clean, functioning toilets and showers
• Adequate, nutritious meals in sufficient quantities

Procedural Reforms:

• Clear, written justification required for all detentions
• Mandatory review of detention decisions every 30 days
• Respect for judicial bond decisions
• Video recording of all interviews where detainees are asked to sign documents
• Independent verification of signatures on legal documents
• Access to legal counsel within 24 hours of detention

Alternatives to Detention:

• Presumption of release for individuals with pending legal status applications
• Use of ankle monitors, check-ins, and other alternatives for those who pose no flight risk or danger
• Priority release for those married to U.S. citizens or with strong community ties

Oversight and Accountability:

• Independent ombudsman to investigate complaints
• Public reporting of detention conditions and outcomes
• Consequences for facilities and officials who violate standards
• Congressional oversight hearings on detention practices

Conclusion: One Man’s Story, A System’s Failure

Seamus Culleton’s case is a stark reminder that immigration enforcement without humanity is simply cruelty. A man who followed the rules, married a U.S. citizen, built a business, and applied for legal status through proper channels now sits in what he calls a “concentration camp,” separated from his wife and family, his health deteriorating, his future uncertain.

“I try my best. I talk to my wife every day, she’s my rock. I talk to my mother and sister most days. They’re all rooting for me,” Culleton told The Guardian.

But hope and family support shouldn’t be the only things standing between a legal immigrant and deportation. We need a system that respects due process, treats people humanely, and recognizes that immigrants are human beings with families, dreams, and rights.

As Culleton’s attorney Ogor Winnie Okoye said, he is “a model immigrant” who has “done everything right.” If the system can fail someone like him so completely, it can fail anyone.

What You Can Do:

• Contact your senators and representatives to demand detention reform
• Support organizations working for immigrant rights and detention reform
• Share Seamus Culleton’s story to raise awareness
• Demand transparency and accountability from ICE
• Advocate for humane treatment of all people in detention

The time for reform is now. Every day that passes is another day of suffering for people like Seamus Culleton and thousands of others trapped in a broken system.