Over €20,000 raised to help release Irish man detained by ICE

More than €20,000 has been raised to help release Séamus Culleton, the Irish man detained in the US by ICE, who left here before he could answer three drug-related charges.

Mr Culleton, from Glenmore in Kilkenny, told of the ‘nasty’ conditions he is faced with at the centre in El Paso, Texas, which he equated to a ‘modern-day concentration camp’.

The 38-year-old, who was running a plastering business in Boston, was detained by the US’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September 2025 for overstaying his 90-day visa. He arrived in the US in 2009.

However, we revealed Mr ­Culleton had three outstanding charges relating to drugs before he left for the US.

The US’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said yesterday that his likening of the El Paso centre to a concentration camp was ‘gross’.

In a post on social media ­platform X, the DHS said: ‘How gross. Calling detention facilities a “concentration camp”, yet this individual (who was in our ­country illegally for 16 years) CHOSE to stay in detention for five months after he was issued a final deportation order and given full due process.

Tiffany Smith and Seamus Culleton. (Facebook)

‘Being in ­detention is a CHOICE – we encourage every illegal alien to take advantage of the CBP Home app to self-deport and have the opportunity to come back to our nation the RIGHT way.’

The latest update on the GoFundMe, which had reached over $28,000 (approx €24,000) for Mr Culleton, said he and his wife
Tiffany are ‘praying for a miracle’ that he could be released.

It read: ‘Séamus had court on 16/1, which continued into 17/1. The judge went back and forth with his attorney for two days and then we were told the judge needed a week to make a decision. A week went by and we found out the judge is siding with ICE and there is no appeal left.

‘This is devastating but now we are using our voices to get his story out there and we’re still praying for a miracle and standing behind Séamus. Thank you for all your support in getting Séamus home where he belongs.

‘Tiffany and Séamus do not deserve this at all. They are good people who work hard and are just trying to make a life together. They are also people who don’t like to ask for help, but right now they need our help.

‘This is a tragic situation, and they are doing everything they can to bring Séamus home, where he belongs.

‘They have both been through hell the past nine weeks. They have been handling all of this on their own and did not expect or want to ask for help, but it has not gotten easier, only harder.’

Extra.ie confirmed that Mr Culleton was charged in 2008 with several offences.

They were: possession of drugs with intent for sale or supply, possession of drugs for personal consumption and obstructing a guard in the course of their duty.

He failed to appear at New Ross District Court for his hearing and a bench warrant was requested. However, it wasn’t issued as he had left the jurisdiction.

He also appeared in the same court in April 2008 for being ‘extremely drunk’ in public and gardaí detained him for his own safety, court reports state.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.