It’s A ‘Modern-Day Concentration Camp’: Irish Man Held By ICE Details ‘Nightmare’ Facility

An Irish man currently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is shedding light on the unsettling conditions inside of a Texas detention center, which he calls “absolute hell.”

“The best way I could describe it is probably like a modern-day concentration camp,” Seamus Culleton told the “Liveline” show on Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

Culleton, who is originally from County Kilkenny, told the Irish Times that he’s been in the U.S. for more than 20 years. He is married to an American citizen and owns a plastering business near Boston, Massachusetts.

He was detained by ICE on his way home from work in September. He told the Irish Times that at the time of his arrest, he was carrying a Massachusetts driver’s license and a valid work permit, the latter of which was issued to him by the U.S. government as part of the green card process that began in April 2025. Culleton said he has no criminal record, “not even a parking ticket” — but was sent to a facility in El Paso, nonetheless.

“I’ve been locked in the same room now for 4 1/2 months,” Culleton told “Liveline” of his detainment. “I’ve had barely any outside time, no fresh air, no sunshine. I could probably count on both hands the amount of times I’ve been outside. So, I’ve just been locked in this room all day, every day.”

Describing the center, Culleton said it was made of “a bunch of temporary tents,” saying he believes the facility has about five of them that probably has “room for a thousand detainees in each tent.”

He went on to describe to “Liveline” his and fellow detainees nightmare-conditions in more detail.

“We get three meals a day, very, very small meals, kid-sized meals. So everybody’s hungry, everybody’s tired,” Culleton said, noting there’s “no commissary” or other options for extra food. He added that there is also “competition” for food and favoritism by staff.

He described the center as “filthy.”

“The toilets, the showers, completely nasty, very rarely cleaned,” he said.

Culleton emphasized that due to the conditions he’s “in fear for my life.”

“People are being killed by the staff here, by the security staff, you know?” Culleton said. “And you just don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. You don’t know if there’s going to be riots, you don’t… You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a nightmare down here.”

HuffPost has reached out to ICE in regards to Culleton’s remarks, but did not receive an immediate response.

Culleton’s wife, Tiffany, told RTÉ that her husband was only allowed a short phone call with her after his arrest and lasted for “under a minute,” describing it to the Irish Times as “traumatizing.”

“He told me where he had parked his work van because I had to go and pick it up,” she told RTÉ. “And then that was it, the phone hung up and I didn’t hear from him for almost a week after that.”

Culleton is now pleading with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister, to bring up the issue of his release during his upcoming St. Patrick’s Day visit at the White House with President Donald Trump in March, per the Irish Times.

A rep for Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs told the Irish Times that it was aware of Culleton’s case and providing “consular assistance” via the Irish consulate in Austin, Texas. The spokesperson also said that its embassy in Washington, D.C., is already engaging with the Department of Homeland Security at a “senior level.”

“I don’t know how much more I can take,” Culleton told the Irish Times during his plea to Martin.