An Irish national, who has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying his visa, has faced pushback from the agency after describing his treatment as ‘torture.’ ICE emphasized that the United States upholds its reputation as ‘a nation of law and order.’

Seamus Culleton, who has lived in the Boston area for over 20 years, initially arrived in the United States in 2009 under a 90-day tourist visa waiver, as outlined in a Texas court decision.

Despite marrying an American citizen and applying for a green card based on this marriage, Culleton remains detained in El Paso after a federal judge rejected his plea for release.

In an interview with Ireland’s RTÉ radio earlier this week, Culleton expressed his distress over his conditions, referring to the detention center as ‘torture’ and stating, ‘I fear for my life here.’

Culleton, originally from Kilkenny, went on to describe the facility as akin to ‘a modern-day concentration camp,’ during a conversation from inside the center.

‘Security staff have been responsible for fatalities here. The uncertainty of daily life is terrifying. It’s a nightmare,’ he said.

On Friday, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) responded to Culleton’s allegations on its official X account, reiterating that ‘this man overstayed his visa… BY 16 YEARS.’

Seamus Culleton (pictured), an Irishman held in Texas for overstaying his 90-day visa, told RTÉ Radio this week that the detention center is ‘torture’ and that he ‘fears for his life’

Culleton married a US citizen and applied for a marriage-based green card, but a federal judge in El Paso – where he remains in detention – denied his bid for freedom

‘We are a nation of law and order,’ the post added. ‘Overstaying your visa violates federal immigration law.’ 

The department’s response comes a day on the heels of a Irish Times report revealing that Culleton was issued an arrest warrant by an Irish court for drug-related offenses soon after entering the US.

In April 2009, the District Court in New Ross, Co. Wexford, issued a warrant for Culleton of Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny, over alleged drug possession and possession with intent to sell or supply in May 2008, according to the outlet.

He was also reportedly facing charges of allegedly obstructing a Garda – a member of Ireland’s national police service – during a search by throwing 25 ecstasy tablets to the ground. 

Just months later, authorities issued another warrant relating to an alleged criminal damage case from September 2007.

The warrants against Culleton are still active, and the outlet reported that he has not yet been apprehended by Ireland’s police, formally known as An Garda Síochána. 

His US attorney, Ogor Winnie Okoye, said during an online press conference this week that she had only just learned of the warrants reportedly issued for his arrest, according to the Irish Times.

She said Culleton is not aware of any post-US warrants, which were reportedly issued after he entered American territory, and emphasized that a warrant does not imply guilt.

ICE responded to Culleton’s (pictured with wife) allegations of torture on its official X account, reiterating that ‘this man overstayed his visa… BY 16 YEARS,’ and that the US is ‘a nation of law and order)

The department’s response comes a day on the heels of a Irish Times report revealing that Culleton (pictured) was issued an arrest warrant by an Irish court for drug-related offenses soon after entering the US

Culleton obtained a statutory exemption to work after marrying a US citizen, ‘tied to a green card application,’ but his detention meant he missed his final interview in October, Okoye told The Guardian.

In September of last year, Culleton said that after finishing work, he returned some items in his van to a Home Depot store and then set off for home, according to RTÉ News.

‘After about two minutes I realized that there was a car following me and it just looked suspicious,’ he told the outlet.

‘It followed for another couple of minutes and sure enough put on the blue lights. Then out of nowhere it seemed like there were seven or eight cars and a bunch of officers at the window of the van, telling me to roll down the window.’

He claimed that he ‘complied with everything they said,’ explaining that he had a marriage-based petition, a work permit and was on the verge of receiving his green card. He noted that he was also carrying a Massachusetts driver’s license. 

Yet none of that mattered to the agents, Culleton said, who then placed him in handcuffs and took him into custody.

‘It was a very unsure moment. I didn’t really know what to think,’ the Irishman told the outlet.

‘I guess when I got thrown in the holding cell in Burlington, Massachusetts, that’s when it kind of sunk in, you know, that I might not be getting out of here.’

His US attorney, Ogor Winnie Okoye (pictured), said Culleton is not aware of any post-US warrants, which were reportedly issued after he entered American territory, and emphasized that a warrant does not imply guilt

His wife, Tiffany Smyth, said she only learned Culleton (both pictured) had been moved to Texas after using an online ICE detainee tracker to try to locate him

His wife, Tiffany Smyth, who also spoke on the program, said he frantically called her for ‘probably under a minute’ to say he had been detained by ICE, and she did not hear from him for nearly a week afterward.

She said she only learned he had been moved to Texas after using an online ICE detainee tracker to try to locate him. 

Culleton’s sister Caroline told RTÉ’s News At One that his arrest was ‘the start of the whole nightmare.’

‘His whole life just ended that day, it was put on hold,’ she said.

Describing conditions inside the detention center to The Irish Times, Culleton said: ‘It’s just a horrible, horrible, horrible place.’

He said there were 72 people crammed into a tent roughly the size of a 16-by-35-foot room, with no ceiling, two rows of bunk beds along the sides, and a long table down the middle.

The conditions at the camp were ‘filthy,’ the toilets and showers ‘nasty,’ and illnesses were rampant among those being detained, Culleton told the outlet.

He said competition for ‘kid-sized’ meals was a normal occurrence and admitted that he had ‘definitely’ lost weight. 

‘People have been killed by the security staff here,’ Culleton told Ireland’s RTÉ radio earlier this week about the El Paso County detention facility

Culleton said the conditions at the camp were ‘filthy,’ the toilets and showers ‘nasty’ and illnesses were rampant among those being detained

‘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 RTÉ’s Liveline program.

‘I have barely any outside time, no fresh air, no sunshine. We have two TVs on the wall, there are 72 detainees here in total.’

Culleton publicly said he was struggling to cope with the psychological and physical toll of detention and didn’t know ‘how much more’ he could take. 

He urged 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.’ 

On January 23, Judge Kathleen Cardone ruled that the visa waiver program Culleton used requires participants to give up the right to contest deportation except on asylum grounds. 

She noted that under the scheme, entrants ‘waive any right… to contest other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any action for removal’ from the US. 

The waiver was designed, she said, ‘to enter the country expeditiously while streamlining their removal.’

Culleton publicly said he was struggling to cope with the psychological and physical toll of detention and didn’t know ‘how much more’ he could take

Culleton urged Irish Premier Micheal Martin to raise his case with President Donald Trump during his upcoming visit to Washington

The judge also cited a 2009 precedent, stressing that the waiver still applies even when ‘an individual has a pending adjustment of status application on the basis of their marriage to a US citizen.’

Culleton confirmed during the November-started case that he was not seeking asylum. 

The US Department of Homeland Security insists he has been treated fairly throughout the process. 

Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the department, also dismissed criticism of the Texas detention facility where Culleton is being held, amid calls from human rights groups for it to be shut down.

‘False,’ she told CBS News in a statement. ‘Ice has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens.’