Irishman Seamus Culleton who was held for months by ICE says he had a US work permit, and now fears for his life.

An Irish man who has lived in the US for almost 20 years has been detained by US immigration officials for almost five months despite insisting he has a valid US work permit and a pending green card case as the spouse of a US citizen. Seamus Culleton said he fears for his life because of the conditions in the facility in Texas.

Samus Culleton, who lived in Boston, was arrested in El Paso Camp East Montanaan ICE detention center inside the Fort Bliss Army base in Texas, according to the agency’s detainee program. Speaking to Irish regional broadcaster RTÉ in a telephone interview on Monday from the detention centre, Culleton described life in the camp as “a nightmare.”

“You don’t know what’s going to happen from day to day. You don’t know if there’s going to be riots, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he told RTÉ. He described the detention facilities as “a bunch of makeshift tents.”

Culleton said he has rarely been outside in the five months since his arrest.

“I have no time outside, no fresh air, no sunlight. We have two TVs on the wall. There are 72 prisoners here in total. We get three meals a day, very little food – food for children, so everyone is hungry,” he said.

Culleton called the conditions “filthy” and said the toilets and showers were “absolutely filthy” and “rarely cleaned.”

In an interview with CBS News Boston, Culleton’s wife, Tiffany Smith, said that when she last saw him in a video interview, he looked rushed.

“He lost a lot of weight,” she said. He described him as someone who was already known for making jokes and pranks. “And it’s just, I don’t know, that’s gone,” she said.

The US Department of Homeland Security, under which ICE falls, denied allegations about conditions at the Texas facility on Tuesday, with DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin telling CBS News in a statement that Culleton’s claims were, “FALSE. ICE has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens.”

McLaughlin confirmed that ICE agents arrested Culleton on September 9, 2025, calling him an “illegal Irish alien” who entered the US in 2009 under the visitor visa waiver program but then failed to leave the US after the 90 days allowed.

“He received a thorough investigation and was released by an immigration judge on September 10, 2025,” said McLaughlin. “He was offered immediate removal to Ireland but chose to remain in ICE custody … A pending application for a green card and work authorization does not give a person legal status in our country.”

Under US law, DHS can detain people with immigration applications if they do not have full immigration status, even if they have not been convicted of crimes, but under the previous administration, non-criminals with pending applications were rarely arrested, and officials often let the green card case play out.

McLaughlin said Culleton was given the opportunity to be sent to Ireland “on the spur of the moment.” He said he “chose to stay in ICE custody, he actually took drastic measures to stay in custody.”

Culleton said he was pursuing the legal process to obtain permanent legal residency, or a green card, and that he had a valid U.S. work permit at the time of his arrest. Spouses of US citizens can obtain work authorization while their green card applications are being processed.

Culleton, a plasterer, said he was stopped by police while driving home in early September after stopping at a convenience store. He was first followed by a blue Ford, and then, “all of a sudden, there seemed to be seven or eight cars and a bunch of police officers at the window of the van, and they told me to roll down the window.”

“They asked me if I had a green card. I said I didn’t. I said I’m married to a citizen and I have a marriage-based application and I’m going to get my green card and that I have a permit to work here and work,” Culleton told RTÉ, adding that none of that information seemed relevant as the police continued to detain him.

Culleton was caught after “local police ran a license check on his car outside a Home Depot in Massachusetts,” court records show in late January.

RTÉ reported Thursday that Culleton had been charged with multiple crimes in Ireland before he left for the US, including possession of illegal drugs and intent to sell drugs, as well as drug paraphernalia, in 2008. RTÉ said a judge issued the warrant for Culleton’s arrest after he failed to appear in court to face the charges next year, and court records reviewed by CBS News show he faces a County Killkenny drug charge. at that time.

Estimates from the Irish government over the past year suggested that as many as 10,000 undocumented Irish immigrants were living across the U.S. Many may have come on waivers for visitor or temporary work visas but remained in the country illegally after those documents expired. effectively staying in the shadows.

A spokesperson for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told CBS News on Tuesday that Irish officials are aware of Culleton’s case and are providing diplomatic assistance to him and his family.

“Our Embassy in Washington DC is also in direct discussion with the Department of Homeland Security at the highest level regarding this case,” said the spokesperson.

In December, the American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights organizations issued a letter calling for the closure of the ERO El Paso Camp East Montana, complaining of a pattern of abuse at the camp including beatings and sexual harassment by officials against detained immigrants, beatings and coercive threats to force deportation to third countries, medical neglect, starvation and inadequate food.