LAST UPDATE
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44 mins ago
SEAMUS CULLETON, THE Irishman who is being detained by immigration officials in the United States, could be deported home to Ireland as early as next week.
A security source with knowledge of the case said that the Department of Homeland Security and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are making plans to send him back home.
Culleton was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in early September when police checked the licence plate on his car outside a hardware shop in Massachusetts. He was in the process of attaining a green card.
He is currently being held in an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas.
US officials have said Culleton had overstayed his visa. The Kilkenny man has lived in the US for 20 years. He is married to a US citizen.
He unsuccessfully challenged his detention last month, with a judge ruling that he remains subject to a final order of removal from the US.
A source said that there have been extensive contacts between the Department of Foreign Affairs and US officials.
It is understood that US officials are anxious to complete the deportation of Culleton.
An official in the Trump administration meanwhile has described Culleton as an “illegal alien” who “failed to depart” the US after his visa expired.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary in the US Department of Homeland Security, wrote a lengthy post on X in which she said that Culleton “received full due process and was issued a final deportation order from a federal judge”.
She wrote that Culleton entered the States in 2009 under a visa waiver programme that only allows you to stay there for 90 days without a further visa.
McLaughlin said that he was offered the chance to be “instantly removed to Ireland” but that he “chose to stay in ICE custody” and took steps to “remain in detention”.
She said that being in detention “is a choice” and that the department encourages people in this position to “take control of their departure”.
McLaughlin added that the US is offering “illegal aliens” $2,600 (€2,000) and a free flight to self-deport.
It comes amid confirmation that Culleton had a number of charges against him before he left Ireland in 2009.
The Journal has established, via multiple sources familiar with his interactions with gardaí, that Culleton had a number of interactions with the justice system in Ireland before he moved to the US.
One incident involved the alleged possession for sale or supply of MDMA (ecstasy) and an attempt to get rid of the drugs when being searched by gardaí in 2008.
Culleton was charged with obstruction but did not appear in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in April 2009, after he had moved to the US.
The incident was alleged to have happened in Ballyverneen, Glenmore, Co Kilkenny.
On another occasion, Culleton was arrested for his own safety while drunk in Glenmore in 2007.
Separately, another bench warrant was issued for Culleton’s arrest after he failed to appear in court when facing criminal damage charges in September 2007.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, Culleton’s lawyer, Ogor Winnie Okoye, who is representing him in his fight to be released from detention, said she had not heard about her client’s charges until this week.
“This is the first time that we’re hearing about that,” Okoye said yesterday. “I can’t speak to a warrant.
“Mr Culleton will not be aware of any warrant that happened after he came to the United States.
“A warrant is not a conviction, a warrant is not a criminal entry, so I will leave it at that until I understand the specific facts of the case.”
Okoye was contacted by The Journal again today and asked for comment.
