(Photo from The Irish Times)
An Irish man with legal permission to work in the United States spent nearly five months in an ICE detention facility in Texas, describing conditions there as a “modern concentration camp” in a harrowing interview detailing widespread disease and competition for food.
Seamus CarltonOriginally from County Kilkenny, Ireland, she has lived in the United States for nearly 20 years and is married to an American citizen. Although he held a valid work permit, was in the final stages of obtaining a green card, and had no criminal record, he was stopped by ICE agents while driving home from get off work in September 2025 and detained.
Carlton, who is currently being held at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, was interviewed on Monday Kieran Cuddichhost Live line Broadcast on Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
He described being locked in “the same room” for months, as well as “filthy” conditions and a lack of adequate food:
The best way I can describe it is probably like a modern day concentration camp. It’s a bunch of makeshift tents. Each tent may hold a thousand detainees. I believe there were about five tents. I’ve been locked in the same room for four and a half months. I barely had any time outside, no fresh air, no sunshine. I can count on both hands the number of times I’ve been out. So I’m locked in this room every day.
Describing the wider conditions, he said:
We had three meals a day, very, very small meals, kid-sized meals. So everyone is hungry and everyone is tired. We didn’t have a concession stand, we didn’t have the option to get extra food or anything like that. The conditions here have been met. The toilets and showers were very dirty and rarely cleaned.
Then he added:
I honestly fear for my life right now because the staff here, the security guards, are killing people, you know? And you just don’t know what’s going to happen every day. If there’s a riot, you don’t… you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a nightmare here.
The show’s host then asked if there was “competition for food” given the small portions of the meals, to which Coulton said “absolutely” and described how staff “prioritised” certain detainees.
“So we’re very lucky to get anything extra,” he added.
Carlton also argued that ICE officials tried to pressure him to sign deportation papers but that he “absolutely” refused.
“This is torture. I don’t know how much more I can take,” he said.
his wife TiffanyOne U.S. citizen said she was kept in the dark for days after his detention and feared he would be deported.
“He was a good man. I don’t think anyone should be treated like this, but Seamus definitely didn’t deserve to be treated like this,” she said, adding that visits were technically allowed but “almost impossible to arrange one.”
The case now has diplomatic implications, with Carlton appealing to the Prime Minister Michael MartinThe Prime Minister of Ireland presented directly to the President Donald Trump during a White House meeting in March.
Ireland’s Foreign Office confirmed it was in “high-level” contact with US authorities over the case.
Watch above via RTÉ.
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