Irish man held by ICE for six months despite valid work permit, pending green card
Mar 1, 2026 · El Paso, TX, Ireland
Seamus Culleton, an Irish national who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years and is married to U.S. citizen Tiffany Smith, was arrested by ICE agents at a hardware store in Boston on September 9, 2025, during a random immigration sweep. Culleton entered the country in 2009 on a visa waiver and overstayed, but held a valid work permit tied to a pending green card application as the spouse of a citizen and has no criminal record. He was detained for roughly six months across facilities in Massachusetts, New York, and Texas, including El Paso Camp East Montana, where he and his attorney reported overcrowding, inadequate food, lack of outdoor time, unsanitary conditions, and significant weight loss. A judge approved his release on bond in November 2025, but ICE continued to detain him after claiming he had signed deportation documents, a claim Culleton and his lawyer dispute due to documentation irregularities. His prolonged detention caused him to miss a critical green card interview. In March 2026, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge paused his deportation pending resolution of his petition for review.
Timeline
Sources
- CBS News (archived)
- irishtimes.com (archived)
- CBS News (archived)
- pekintimes.com (archived)
- newrepublic.com (archived)
- The Guardian (archived)
- amp.theguardian.com (archived)
- irishstar.com (archived)
- irishexaminer.com (archived)
- BBC (archived)
- irishstar.com
- boston.com (archived)
- WCVB (archived)
- altzar.org
- BBC (archived)
- corkbeo.ie
- The Daily Beast (archived)
- kilkennypeople.ie
- irishmirror.ie (archived)
- irishstar.com
- irishtimes.com (archived)
- dublinlive.ie (archived)
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