'Five to six' Irish citizens detained by ICE, according to Taoiseach 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed he has been made aware of five to six cases where Irish citizens have been detained by ICE, after Kilkenny man Seamus Culleton spoke of his detention by the immigration agency in Texas. File picture: The Irish Times

There are as many as six Irish citizens being held by Donald Trump's immigration enforcement agency, ICE.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed he had been made aware of five to six cases where Irish citizens have been detained by ICE, after Kilkenny man Seamus Culleton spoke of his detention by the immigration agency in Texas.

Mr Culleton, who was initially detained in Boston in September, said he had feared for his life in the Texan detention centre, describing it as a “modern day concentration camp”.

“You just 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,” Mr Culleton said, speaking from the detention centre on RTÉ’s Liveline on Monday.

The Irishman has lived in the US for almost 20 years and is married to a US citizen.

During leaders’ questions in the Dáil, Mr Martin said he first became aware of Mr Culleton’s case on Monday, following media reports about the Irishman being held in the detention centre.

“Obviously, the Department of Foreign Affairs became aware of the case in October and have been dealing and providing consular assistance to Seamus Culleton and the family via the team in Austin, at the consulate general and the embassy in Washington DC,” Mr Martin said.

Asked directly if there were other Irish citizens being held in similar conditions to Mr Culleton, Mr Martin said there are a “number of cases”.

It could be five to six cases, but they vary in terms of status, in terms of each individual case.

The Taoiseach said the Government is concerned about the conditions faced by Mr Culleton.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik raised the issue, saying: “Seamus is a man who has lived in the US for 17 years, who runs a successful business in Boston, who married his American wife Tiffany Smith last April but he has now spent more than half of his married life behind barbed wire in this camp,” Ms Bacik said.

“Why? Because he was lifted off the street by ICE on his way to the shops after being kept waiting for his green card following long delays.”

Ms Bacik described Mr Culleton’s experience as shocking.

“It appears, beyond doubt, to breach American commitments under the UN Convention against torture and cruel or degrading treatment,” Ms Bacik said.

She accused the Government of failing to assist Mr Culleton, urging them to use “every diplomatic lever” to secure his release.

In response, Mr Martin said the Government will be doing “everything we can”.

“But we have to do it in a way that can really help him," he said.

We can’t promise because we don’t control American migration law or practice for that matter, but we can engage. We have and we will.

The Taoiseach said the main goal is for Mr Culleton to secure status in the US.

“Let’s not do anything that could make that more difficult. This cannot be resolved in the public domain.”

Mr Martin said every country has laws surrounding migration, citing the Government’s attempts to regularise undocumented Irish in the US.

He said it is a “traumatic and difficult position” for any undocumented Irish to be in, saying they are “always watching over the shoulder”.

Speaking on Monday, Mr Culleton said he had been detained on September 9 by ICE while returning goods to a Home Depot store.

He said he believed he was legally covered, having received a work permit to remain in the US a month earlier and was “just about to receive my green card”.

• Tadhg McNally is Political Correspondent.