Seaumus Culleton stands with a trophy. Credit: Seamus Culleton

An Irishman married to a U.S. citizen fears for his life after being imprisoned by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for five months at a controversial detention camp in El Paso, he told the Irish Times.

“It’s just a horrible, horrible place,” said Seamus Culleton, who’s lived in the U.S. for 17 years and owns a business in Boston. “I’m not in fear of the other inmates. I’m afraid of the staff. They’re capable of anything.”

ICE agents picked up Culleton in September near the plastering business he operates. His arrest even though he has no criminal record and is legally married to U.S. citizen, he told the publication.

Culleton legally entered the U.S. 17 years ago under the Visa Waiver Program. He overstayed his 90-day visa only after marrying his American wife, Tiffany Smyth, according to the Guardian. He then applied for permanent residence.

During that process, Culleton obtained a statutory exemption allowing him to work, and launched a successful business, the Guardian reports. He said he had one final interview for his Green Card application but was navel to make the appointment after ICE detained him.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis,” Culleton told the Guardian. “You don’t know if there’s going to be riots, you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a nightmare down here.”

Culleton’s family went public this week to galvanize support for his release. In comments to the Guardian, they described “filthy” showers and toilets at Camp East Montana, the El Paso camp in which he’s being held. They also railed against the child-sized meals that left Culleton and other prisoners “starving.”

Smyth, Culleton’s wife, told the IrishTimes that in a recent video phone call, it appeared Culleton had lost significant weight.

In a separate interview with the Irish Times, Culleton described the conditions at Camp East Montona as similar to those of a “concentration camp.”

The massive detention facility on the grounds of Army base Fort Bliss has come under heightened scrutiny after the recent death of Geraldo Lunas Campos, a 55-year-old Cuban migrant, was ruled by a medical examiner as a homicide by asphyxiation. A witness at the facility said they saw a guard at Camp Montana choke Campos to death, according to the ACLU.

This week, the Texas Tribune reported that two cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of COVID-19 were recently identified at the camp.

Although the City of El Paso has confirmed those reports, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, denied those claims to the Trib.

“There are no cases of tuberculosis at the El Paso ICE facility,” she asserted.

Meanwhile, Culleton and his family are hoping that Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin will call for his release during an upcoming St. Patrick’s Day visit to Washington, the Irish Times reports.

The Irish Consulate in Austin is offering assistance. However, officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Irish Times that their government is unwilling to influence U.S. legal processes.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...