- Unsafe conditions in detention.
- Detained people fighting over food (due to insufficient amount).
- A fake signature(!). Violating a judge's orders.
- Multiple US Constitution violations (which, yes, does apply to non-citizens/work-visa holders/even illegal immigrants).
This is a "hero case," but if this is happening here, imagine what people with less financial means and interest from the media are going through.
https://www.aclunorcal.org/publications/resistance-retaliati...
Some of those issues:
- forced labor in order to afford to eat. The $1/day "Voluntary Work Program" is necessary to afford enough food and there is retaliation if you refuse (including solitary confinement). CoreCivic sells your labor
- dozens of documented deaths from forced labor and medical neglect
- extensive use of solitary confinement often for "minor disciplinary infractions or as a form of retaliation for participating in hunger strikes or for submitting complaints"
People will just flag it instead, sadly. Concentration camps in full view (or rather, the tip of the iceberg) and people will instead bury their heads.
> The Fifth Circuit has held that the VWP statute “‘unambiguously’ limits an alien’s means of contesting removal solely to an application for asylum.” McCarthy v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 459, 460 (5th Cir. 2009) (citation omitted). And once an individual violates the terms of the VWP by remaining in the United States for more than ninety days, the individual is no longer entitled to contest removal on any other basis. Id. at 462. This is true even when an individual has a pending adjustment of status application on the basis of their marriage to a U.S. citizen. Id. at 460, 462.
> Culleton concedes he is removable under the VWP. Reply 10. But he argues that because USCIS accepted and began processing his adjustment of status application, he is entitled to due process protections in its fair adjudication. Id. at 9. The Fifth Circuit has foreclosed this very argument, reasoning that the VWP waiver includes a waiver of due process rights. See Mukasey, 555 F.3d at 462. And “[t]he fact that [Culleton] applied for an adjustment of status before the DHS issued its notice of removal is of no consequence.” Id.
https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detentio...
However, the fact that a man can be pulled of the street despite having legal status should be alarming. You don't need to care about the Irishman, but you should care about justice.
Remember that scene in the show Seinfeld where Babu Bhatt is taken from his house for expired immigration papers? That was in 1993.
And more over, they basically have proved that the law has no sufficient ability to actually enforce court orders on the ground when the administrative branch is firmly on not obeying them. Even worse, the public opinion has been just mildly annoyed by this - by mildly I mean that only some people decided to bring themselves to the streets, separately and only on the weekends or a single day in most cases.
It wasn't the federal government that broke the law first. You can disagree with a law and still follow it. Sanctuary cities don't exist out of the goodness of someones heart. Sanctuary cities exist because they make money at the expense of Americans. (and it's no coincidence these cities have major homelessness problems)
What could be the better answer to immigration policy is out of the scope, therefore I would echo the other comment that says this is not about immigration. If this wasn't clear before, it should've been after the two Minneapolis murders and the arrest of Don Lemon, etc etc.
The tens of thousands of detainees aren't being put in hotels... they're going to concentration camps; either in USA where they're forced to work (slavery you might term it, as many (most?) have not broken the law, nor been detained legally); or abroad where the regime's intention appears to be that they die.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/toWTEuEPDXigwwr78
https://maps.apple.com has higher resolution imagery, but note the location is mismarked (the old facility was by the airport).
> ...
> Culleton said that when he was arrested he was carrying a Massachusetts driving licence and a valid work permit issued as part of an application for a green card that he initiated in April 2025. He has a final interview remaining.
Something doesn't add up. How do you live in the US for 20 years (I assume doing plastering work), and only just apply for a green card? Is it common for people to get an H1-B or something like that for such work? Even so, I'd think it would be relatively easy for an Irish person to jump from that to a green card (unlike someone from India or China).
According to the court order, he entered the US on the Visa Waiver Program in 2009. He may have a work permit now because anyone can file for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) through an I-765 while they are applying for a green card through marriage, but there's no indication that he had work permits before that. I've encountered Irish people throughout the US in similar situations.
I do agree that really that the core issue is not with this one particular case, but broadly a pattern of how people are treated, and a failure of due process. People make mistakes. Governments are made up of people who also make mistakes. Process is how you catch mistakes and minimize its occurrence. A failure of due process reduces trust that even fully legal aboveboard immigrants will be treated reasonably and fairly. And that is reducing my confidence that I will be staying in this country long term.
But did he? The OP is mum on the matter about what kind of work permit he had for the 19 years before applying for a green card last year. If he did have some kind of work permit, it sounds like a really strange situation. The article says was running his own business, was he sponsoring himself on a temporary worker visa or something?
Given the gaps in the article, I think it's fairly likely he didn't have work permit until recently, and was working here illegally for most of that 20 years.
The way most of them normalize their immigration status is by marrying a US Citizen who can sponsor a green card.
She had been working all that time (employed) and she owned an apartment in Miami. She didn't give a royal fuck about citizenship, and only acquired it some 10 or 15 years ago due to mounting pressure from family.
There is no doubt it was the best course of action given the current government actions.
Edit: Moreover, she practically can't speak english. Her spoken spanish has acquired a strong cuban ring, although she hasn't been to cuba, go figure.
Usually a pre-Green-Card work permit doesn't allow that (you need a GC to own a business).
This article is an example of sophisticated co-mingling of facts and omissions, designed to obfuscate the context.
Additional context: he claims ICE forged his signature on legal documents.
He should be free while the case proceeds. Seems like exactly the kind of person who is not a flight risk, because the entire reason he’s contesting it is because he’s built a life he doesn’t want to leave.
You are mistaken. Plenty of people own businesses in the US even as foreigners. I don't even have to step into that country to open one, and also not for a transfer of ownership/shares.
You seem to be searching for the slightest absurdity to justify any of this happening.
Gosh, we have very different ideas of policy.
The article is extremely light on details but fact he doesn't have a Green Card/Lawful Permanent Resident yet would indicate that at some point of his time in United States, he was illegally present, probably for a while.
Sure, he's on path, MAYBE (that's up to immigration courts), to legal status but he's not quite there yet and it's one of those "Are we going to forgive past transgressions?"
Reading over court filings, there is collision between two laws. First one is, "Those who marry US Citizens can get Green Card regardless of previous US Immigration violations."
Second one is, VWP admits have no rights. If US decides to deport you, out you go with no further discussion.
Biggest takeaway of Trump immigration actions is Congress has fucked up so bad letting system get to this point.
How do you conclude that from the facts in the article?
Also, despite all the US screaming about "They took our jobs" with immigrants, the US doesn't really hand out work visas all that much and don't really hand it out to blue collar labors at all.
There is a possibility that he's been on legal visa entire time but I'd give extremely good odds that he wasn't. The fact his immigration lawyer doesn't mention it is very telling.
That is absolutely false. I know many people who have lived legally in the USA for many many years with valid visas and have intentionally never pursued a green card. Two people come to mind including one who has over 20 years the US on valid visas -- she intentionally never pursued the green card despite both (a) being married to an American and (b) being legally able to get the green card.
Some of them are now pursuing green cards only because of federal government's immigration enforcement not only going after illegal immigrants or criminals but clearly and intentionally pursing immigrants in general -- even those who are legal and without any criminal history.
When discussing this with friends, multiple spouses have pulled out green cards and only newly weds had anything else but green card. She showed her passport with some form attached to it.
Also, I did dig up the court filings: https://habeasdockets.org/media/documents/71921787/004_18103...
Yes, he was here unlawfully (Admitted as tourist and overstayed) for a period but due to his marriage, he on path to Green Card.
This is incorrect. You do need to pursue it. Just because your friends did pursue it once they were able to, doesn't mean it is automatic. One needs to decide if they want to get their green card or not once they are married to a US citizen.
One was on a student visa for undergrad and then a student visa for masters for 6 years total (4 for undergrad and 2 for masters), then on a G4 diplomatic visa while working at the World Bank for 5 years, then back to a student visa for 5 years pursuing a PhD, then back to a G4 Diplomatic visa for 6 years while working at the World Bank. This person married an American about 10 years ago and still never pursued a green card out of choice.
Another was on a G4 diplomatic visa while working at the IDB for 3 years, then a student visa for 5 years while pursuing a PhD, then a visa while working at the Federal Reserve for a number of years (not sure of which, but either H1B or J1), and then on a G4 diplomatic visa while working at the IMF.
Of course, these are not your typical situations for the average immigrant. Admittedly, I live in a bit of a bubble surrounded by economists in Washington DC from the World Bank, IMF, IDB, etc who are mostly on G4 diplomatic visas.
My point is it is still possible and one shouldn't presume.
You can presume when you read the article and realize he was working in blue collar trade so your experience does not apply.
EDIT: And they would likely transition to Green Cards the second that their work visas expired.
and historically documentable
there's probably good reason he's writing 5 Million dollar checks a pop to various PACs
Right now ICE hasn't opened any of their human warehouse "internment camps"
and their quota is "only" 3000 souls per day
Now scale that out 1,000 more days and predict what's going down
Every tourist will be a viable target, there are no consequences for arresting people with paperwork, it just meets quota
Heck they could be grabbing athletes, there were some events this year in US where athletes from various countries in Africa could not get visa permits