An Irishman who has lived in the US for more than two decades has delivered a harrowing account of life inside an American immigration detention centre, branding the ordeal ‘a torture’.
Seamus Culleton, originally from Glenmore in Co Kilkenny, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last September.
This is despite him being married to an American citizen, running a plastering business in the Boston area, and having no criminal record – ‘not even a parking ticket’.
Speaking publicly about his detention, the father-to-be said he was struggling to cope with the psychological and physical toll of being locked up for nearly five months.
‘I don’t know how much more I can take,’ he said, urging Irish Premier Micheal Martin to raise his case with President Donald Trump during his upcoming visit to Washington.
In an emotional appeal to Irish politicians, he said: ‘Just try to get me out of here and do all you can, please. It’s an absolute torture, psychological and physical torture. I just want to get back to my wife. We’re so desperate to start a family’.
He added that while he was not afraid of other detainees, his fear lay elsewhere: ‘I’m not in fear of the other inmates. I’m afraid of the staff. They’re capable of anything.
‘I’d be so grateful if we could just end this. I’ve been detained now for five months. It’s just a torture,’ he said.
Seamus Culleton, originally from Glenmore, Co Kilkenny, with his wife Tiffany Smyth, a US citizen
Speaking publicly about his detention, the father-to-be said he was struggling to cope with the psychological and physical toll of being locked up for nearly five months
ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on February 4, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Culleton was arrested on September 3, 2025, and transferred to an ICE facility in Texas, where he remains in custody while his immigration case winds through the US legal system.
Describing conditions inside the detention centre to The Irish Times, he said: ‘It’s just a horrible, horrible, horrible place’.
He said there were 72 people in a tent the size of 16ft by 35ft room with no ceiling, with two rows of bunk beds on either side and a long table down the middle.
Culleton described the conditions at the camp as ‘filthy’, the toilets and showers as ‘nasty’, and that illnesses are rife among those being detained.
He said there was competition for food and said he had ‘definitely’ lost weight.
‘There is no real quality of life here. I’ve been locked in the same room now for four and a half months,’ Culleton told RTE’s Liveline programme.
‘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’.
Friends and family have urged him to stay positive, but he admitted morale is difficult to maintain.
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‘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, I know that’.
The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was aware of the case and had been providing ‘consular assistance’ through Ireland’s consulate in Austin, Texas.
‘Our Embassy in Washington, DC is also engaging directly with the Department of Homeland Security at a senior level in relation to this case,’ a spokeswoman said.
A Government spokesman said the Taoiseach had been briefed and reiterated that diplomatic efforts were ongoing.
However, officials speaking anonymously acknowledged that Ireland has limited influence over US immigration proceedings, though assistance would continue.
Local TD John McGuinness said he had personally raised the matter with the Taoiseach and was seeking urgent intervention.
‘I’ll be asking for an immediate response in terms of contacting the White House,’ he said.
He praised the Austin consulate but warned: ‘It’s really at a higher level that we need an intervention now. Action is required now’.
Culleton’s sister Caroline echoed the call for urgency, saying the family felt they had no choice but to speak out publicly.
Tiffany said that she had attempted to reach senators and Trump about the case but had received no response
Culleton was arrested on September 3, 2025, and transferred to an ICE facility in Texas, where he remains in custody while his immigration case winds through the US legal system
‘We had got to the point where we had to go public on it,’ she said.
‘I’m really hoping that I can get him to walk out those gates and get on with his life.’
She said she had not yet been contacted directly by Irish officials, but hoped public attention would help.
Media coverage, she said, would give her brother a ‘bit of a boost’ and ‘a little bit of reassurance’ that his family is doing all they can.
But the ordeal has taken a heavy toll on the family, with Caroline describing the events as ‘devastating’.
She described the initial shock when Culleton first got detained, and spoke of how the family felt ‘useless’ as they are not allowed to visit him due to non-guaranteed visitation rights.
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Culleton has been able to phone his mother daily from the detention centre, and has kept in close contact with his sister.
‘There are no words. I mean the way they’re being kept, and they’re locked up, and he’s only been allowed out a couple of times,’ she said.
‘They don’t see the sunlight. They don’t get out. Their health deteriorates.’
She said he has lost an ‘awful lot of weight’, adding that he has sores, infections, and hair loss.
She told the News at One programme that his ongoing detention was ‘heartbreaking for our mother’ and his extended family.
This week, his wife Tiffany managed to video call him for the first time since his arrest.
She said she did not hear from him for almost a week after an initial phone call following his arrest, and said she ‘did not know if he was deported’ and ‘had no idea if he was safe’.
Asked if she had been allowed to visit her husband, she said ICE officially allows visits, but it is ‘almost impossible to set one up’.
She had booked flights from Massachusetts to Texas to attend one of Culleton’s court dates, but the hearing was moved on 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.
Tiffany added that she had attempted to reach senators and Trump about the case but had received no response.
