Deportation of Irish man in ICE custody temporarily halted

The deportation of an Irish man who is being held in an US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in El Paso, Texas, has been temporarily halted.

Seamus Culleton, who is originally from Glenmore, County Kilkenny, was detained by ICE in September 2025 while he was in the process of applying for his green card.

Lawyers for Culleton, the BOS Legal Group in Boston, Massachusetts, said a court has issued a temporary order pausing his deportation for 10 business days.

The US Department Of Homeland Security has previously told BBC News NI that "a pending green card application and work authorisation does not give someone legal status" to remain in the US.

Culleton entered the United States in 2009 under the visa waiver program, which allows people to stay in the US for 90 days without needing a visa.

He is married to a US citizen and owns a plastering business in the Boston area.

He has lived in the US for almost 18 years.

"Culleton has resided in the United States for nearly two decades and is married to a US citizen," a BOS Legal Group spokesperson said.

"He has no criminal entries since living in the United States."

The spokesperson added that he "presents no public safety concerns, and has strong familial and community ties in the United States".

"Our legal team remains focused on securing his release from ICE custody and obtaining the immigration relief necessary for him to be reunited with his wife and to remain in the United States with his family," the legal group said.

While he had previously been undocumented in the US, Culleton's lawyer said last week that he was in the final stages of receiving his green card and had a valid work permit.

He was arrested on 9 September 2025, and has since been held at a number of ICE detention facilities, most recently in El Paso, Texas.

The detention facility is almost 4,000km from his home in Boston.

Speaking to RTÉ's Liveline from the detention centre, Culleton said he had been locked in the same room with 71 other detainees in what he described as squalid conditions and with insufficient food and negligible time outside for fresh air, sunshine or exercise.

"You don't know what's going to happen on a day-to-day basis.

"You don't know if there's going to be riots, you don't know what's going to happen. It's a nightmare down here."

In a statement issued to BBC News NI last week, Department Of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: "On September 9, 2025, ICE arrested Seamus Culleton, an illegal alien from Ireland."

She added: "He entered the United States in 2009 under the visa waiver program, which allows you to stay in the US for 90 days without a visa. He failed to depart the US. He received full due process and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on September 10, 2025."

She said Culleton was offered the chance to be removed to Ireland but he "chose to stay in ICE custody, in fact he took affirmative steps to remain in detention".

"A pending green card application and work authorisation does not give someone legal status to be in our country. Being in detention is a choice," she added.

McLaughlin added: "The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the US the right legal way to live the American dream.

"If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return."