Ireland will do “everything we can” to free an Irish citizen who has been confined for nearly five months in a U.S. detention camp in Texas, Prime Minister Micheál Martin vowed Tuesday.
The high-profile case of Seamus Culleton — who was seized by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September as he left a Home Depot hardware store in Boston — is complicating Ireland’s hopes of keeping relations with Washington upbeat ahead of Martin’s planned St. Patrick’s Day visit next month.
Ireland prizes its exceptional political access to the White House and Capitol Hill tied to the annual March 17 Irish national holiday, when the Irish leader typically presents his U.S. counterpart with warm words and a bowl of shamrock. The festivities have become diplomatic minefields in Trump’s era, given the contribution of U.S. multinationals to Ireland’s economic strength and record-breaking tax revenues — benefits that Trump has threatened to roll back.
Culleton has been Ireland’s top news story since the Irish Times on Monday reported on his case and on the allegedly appalling conditions he faces in Camp East Montana, the ICE facility inside Fort Bliss army base near El Paso.
The same day, Culleton appeared live on air on Ireland’s RTÉ radio to describe conditions of overcrowding, filth, disease, hunger and violence — and a personal fear, now set aside, that speaking out might make matters even worse for him.
Culleton admitted having overstayed his U.S. visa two decades ago, but said he’s been pursuing legal residency via his ongoing application for a green card, buttressed by his valid work permit, his employment as a plasterer and his April 2025 marriage. He’s one of at least 10,000 undocumented Irish citizens who have lived, often for decades, in the United States.
Opposition leaders raised Culleton’s case Tuesday on the floor of Dáil Éireann, Ireland’s parliament — and accused Martin of tolerating human rights abuses of Irish citizens for the sake of keeping Trump sweet on economic matters.
“You must commit now on the floor of the Dáil to pulling out every stop, using every diplomatic lever, to secure Seamus’ release. No delays, no waiting for St. Patrick’s Day,” charged Ivana Bacik, leader of the opposition Labour Party.
Martin insisted that while he had learned of Culleton’s five-month detention only on Monday, officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs had been liaising since October with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — both in Washington and via Ireland’s consulate in Austin, Texas — to seek Culleton’s release and his acceptance as a legal American resident.
Martin said Culleton was one of “five or six” Irish citizens currently in ICE custody, and that he hopes to see all freed. But he cautioned that such lobbying needs to happen away from the cameras, arguing that public criticism of Trump’s policies was counterproductive.
A senior government official — speaking to POLITICO on condition of anonymity citing diplomatic sensitivities — said Irish efforts to seek clarity from ICE have been fruitless.
Culleton said ICE officials had repeatedly pressed him to sign documents consenting to be deported, but he has refused.
Posted by John3262005
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When you read the [article](https://www.irishtimes.com/world/us/2026/02/09/absolute-hell-irish-man-with-valid-us-work-permit-held-by-ice-since-september/) that made Seamus Culleton a top in Ireland, you can understand why Ireland is trying their hardest to get him out and get him acceptance as a legal American resident.
Honestly, it is crazy but not surprising when you know how the DHS is not trustworthy when it comes to immigration
*Culleton’s attorney, Ogor Winnie Okoye of BOS Legal Group in Massachusetts, then appealed the case to a federal court, where two Ice agents claimed that in Buffalo, Culleton had signed several documents agreeing to be deported.*
*However, he is adamant he did not and says the signatures are not his. “My whole life is here [in the US]. I worked so hard to build my business. My wife is here,” he said.*
*Although the judge noted numerous irregularities on Ice’s court documents, she ultimately sided with the agency.*
Just a crazy set of paragraphs in the Irish Times article
Apparently, Politico said that there are four or five other Irish citizens too