An Irish man who has been held in an immigration detention facility since September said he is “in fear for his life” while he waits for a ruling on his case. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Seamus Culleton, who had been living in Boston for 15 years, in September while he was driving home from work.
Culleton had a valid work permit and had a marriage-based green card application pending, which he filed in April 2025. Culleton’s lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye, appealed Culleton’s detention after ICE agents said he signed deportation papers, which he disputed. A judge noted irregularities with the case, but sided with the agency.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Culleton entered the U.S. in 2009 on a 90-day visa waiver program and did not leave at the time. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Culleton “was offered the chance to instantly be removed to Ireland but chose to stay in ICE custody.”
McLaughlin also said work authorizations from pending green card applications did not give a person legal status to remain in the country.
Culleton said after he was arrested, he was flown to a Buffalo, New York, ICE facility, and when he refused to sign deportation paperwork, he was taken to an immigration detention facility in El Paso, Texas, where he’s been held since.
Culleton said the El Paso site is “filthy” with limited sanitation, offers child-size meals that leave detainees hungry, detainees frequently get sick and there are fights over food.
“I’ve been locked in the same room now for four and a half months. I’ve had barely any outside time. No fresh air. No sunshine. I could probably count on both hands the amount of times I’ve been outside,” Culleton told KIVA-TV, the ABC affiliate in El Paso. “I’m just locked in this room all day every day.”
