February 9, 2026
From returns to detentions
Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months
“Five months in tents” — Comments erupt over ICE detention and due process
TLDR: Irish man says ICE held him 5 months in Texas tents despite a work permit and pending green card. Commenters explode over due process, alleged private‑prison profiteering, and confusion about whether he entered legally — a messy debate with real stakes for anyone worried about constitutional rights.
An Irish man, Seamus Culleton, says he’s been stuck five months in a Texas immigration detention center after nearly 20 years in the U.S., describing filthy tent barracks, “kid‑size meals,” and almost no sunshine. He claims he had a work permit and a pending marriage-based green card when agents stopped him after a Home Depot errand, then whisked him 4,000 km away. The internet didn’t just react — it detonated. The loudest chorus: this feels unconstitutional. One commenter calls months-long lockups and cross-country transfers “extremely illegal,” while another says due process in the U.S. Constitution protects everyone, not just citizens. Enter the spicy take brigade: accusations that the detention system is a money pipeline to private prisons tied to politics, countered by users nitpicking the article’s details and asking whether he entered legally at all. The facts-versus-feelings skirmish gets messy: a user claims he “conceded” he came illegally; another fires back that the article doesn’t say that, citing his work permit and pending petition. Meanwhile, meme lords go to work: “From Home Depot run to ICE runaround,” “Happy Meal justice,” and riffs on the agent’s “deep blue reflective sunglasses.” It’s outrage, legal lectures, and gallows humor — all at once.
Key Points
- •ICE detained an Irish man in September and transferred him to a Texas detention center about 4,000 km from his Boston home, where he has been held for five months.
- •He described living in large temporary tents with minimal outdoor time, small meals, unsanitary facilities, and confinement with 72 detainees for four and a half months.
- •He said he was stopped after leaving a Home Depot, told officers he had a marriage-based petition and a recent work permit, yet was arrested and handcuffed.
- •During processing in Burlington, Massachusetts, he was asked to sign deportation papers but refused.
- •He appealed to Irish politicians and asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin to raise his case with President Donald Trump during an upcoming Oval Office visit.