Irishman with valid U.S. work permit held by ICE since September
For five days, [Seamus] Culleton was held in a small cell overflowing with other detainees, then flown to a Buffalo, New York, Ice facility.
In Buffalo he was interviewed by an Ice agent, who asked if he would sign a form agreeing to his deportation. Culleton said he refused, and instead ticked a box where detainees can state they wish to contest their arrest. He wrote down that his grounds for contesting were that he was married to a US citizen and had a valid work permit.
He was then flown to the Ice facility in El Paso, Texas.
He said he has been locked in the same large, cold and damp room for 4½ months with more than 70 men. He said detainees are constantly hungry because meals served at tables in the centre of the room offer only child-sized portions. Fights often break out over food, “even over those little child-sized juice containers”. Toilet areas are “filthy”.
He said there is little to do but lie on a bed all day. Most detainees do not speak any English. He said he has been allowed outside for air and exercise fewer than a dozen times in nearly five months. The atmosphere is full of “anxiety and depression”, he said. [Continue reading…]