Seamus Culleton has been held for five months despite having valid work permit and being married to US national
An Irish court apparently issued a warrant for the arrest of the Irish man currently embroiled in controversy with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which has been ramping up detentions and activity around the United States since last year.
Seamus Culleton has spent five months in US custody and faces deportation despite having a valid work permit in a case that has attracted widespread publicity. His lawyer called him a “model immigrant” with no criminal record.
On Thursday, it emerged that in April 2009 – a month after Culleton entered the US on a tourist visa – a district court in New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland, issued a warrant over the alleged possession of drugs for sale or supply the previous year. Culleton also faced charges of allegedly obstructing a garda – a police officer – during a search by throwing 25 ecstasy tablets on the ground, the Irish Times reported.
These disclosures have added a new dimension to a case that has become a lightning rod for concern about ongoing ICE immigration sweeps and detentions around the US.
