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“We tried to do everything the right way that you’re supposed to do, so I’m just begging, just let us at least finish that,” his wife, Tiffany Smith, said.
Tiffany Smith and Seamus Culleton at a Patriots game. Tiffany Smith
An Irish man, who is married to an American and has lived in the Boston area for nearly two decades since overstaying a visa, called his five months in federal immigration custody “hell on earth.”
Seamus Culleton, who owns a small plastering business, was at the Home Depot in Saugus Sept. 9 to return some items, and federal immigration agents “just happened to be there,” his immigration lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye, told reporters Wednesday.
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Okoye said, adding that he was arrested after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents ran his license plate at the Home Depot.
Culleton, 38, overstayed his 90-day visa in 2009, but has since married U.S. citizen Tiffany Smith. The Irish man has no criminal record, according to Okoye, and had work authorization and a pending green card application.
“I just want him home. I want him safe. Seamus is a good man. He doesn’t deserve what is going on,” Smith said. “We tried to do everything the right way that you’re supposed to do, so I’m just begging, just let us at least finish that.”
‘Modern day concentration camp’
Culleton told an Irish radio station about his detention at the ERO East Montana ICE Detention Camp in El Paso, Texas, describing poor sanitation and hygiene at the facility along with rampant sickness.
“It’s like a modern day concentration camp. We’ve got no human rights down here,” Culleton said. “People are starving, people are sick, people are tired … It’s just hell down here. Hell on earth… I wouldn’t wish it on any human being at all.”
When she traveled to Texas, Okoye said Culleton looked jaundiced and like he lost up to 40 pounds. He told her he’s only had four hours of sunlight in four months.
DHS denied the claims in a statement, arguing that ICE “has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
Confusing legal battle for Irish man still in immigration detention
Since he’s been in custody, Culleton missed his scheduled marriage-based green card interview in November and December, Okoye said. Through his visa program, Culleton had waived his right to contest removal, but his lawyer said an exemption should be made.
“Historically and statutorily, immediate relatives of US citizens get that exemption, the fact that they overstay the visa, which is the lone charge in this case, is not an impediment for them to get the green card,” Okoye said. “Where there’s an immediate relative exception and where there’s no allegation that the person is a flight risk, a criminal of any sort, and all that, he’s just the perfect candidate to have the government exercise a favorable discretion on his behalf.”
Since his detention in the fall, Culleton was granted bail, and Smith posted a $4,000 bond. The next day, the government rescinded bail, Okoye said, despite conceding they had not served Culleton any notice of removal. Then, when the the court denied a habeas petition challenging his detention, the government produced documents that Culleton denies signing.
“I believe my client when he said that he never saw nor signed any of those documents,” Okoye said. “Legally speaking, we’re exploring doing another habeas and bringing up other issues.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS, said Culleton “received full due process” and has been given the opportunity to leave the country.
“He was offered the chance to instantly be removed to Ireland but chose to stay in ICE custody, in fact he took affirmative steps to remain in detention. A pending green card application and work authorization does not give someone legal status to be in our country,” McLaughlin said. “Being in detention is a choice.”
Both Smith, who has lived her entire life in the Boston area, and Okoye pleaded for his release.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. I don’t know how I’ve gone on the se last five months, to be honest,” Smith said. “It’s been awful, and I don’t wish this upon anybody.”
Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.
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