Wife of Irishman detained by ICE "had no idea if he was safe"

The Kilkenny native has been in the US since 2009 and is married to an American woman, Tiffany Smyth.

He is currently locked up in El Paso, Texas, with his wife worrying for his health and safety back home in Boston, Massachusetts.

Tiffany revealed to Sky News that she had no contact with Séamus for days after ICE took him thousands of miles away, leaving her in the dark.

Wiping tears away from her eyes, she added: "It’s hard to believe. I don’t understand it. We’ve done everything we are supposed to do."

Tiffany also remarked that she "did not know if he was deported" and "had no idea if he was safe".

She described the difficult task of trying to visit her husband, despite booking flights from Massachusetts to Texas to attend one of his court dates.

Seamus Culleton.

However, the hearing was moved to the day before she was due to leave.

Tiffany added: "He’s a good man. I don’t think anyone deserves this, but Séamus definitely doesn’t deserve this."

Séamus’s sister has also made worrying comments about her brother’s health, saying that he has lost an "awful lot of weight", along with sores, infections and hair loss.

Séamus has described the horrific conditions that he and more than 70 other inmates are living through.

He has pleaded with the Irish Government to "do anything you can" to get him out of the cramped detention facility, claiming he is now "in fear for my life here".

Séamus described the conditions at the facility, which is made up of five open-air tents, as ‘nasty’ and said the toilets and showers are "rarely ever cleaned".

He was one interview away from securing his Green Card when ICE took him. 

Seamus Culleton and his wife, Tiffany.

Séamus added: "It’s an absolute torture, a psychological torture, a physical torture.

"I just want to get back to my wife. We were just about to start a family. My own family at home is suffering, my own mother especially. She is heartbroken that I’m in here.

"I don’t want her health to get any worse. She’s constantly worried and stressed about me, I don’t want her to get any worse. It’s not fair on anyone."

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.