9 ms·

Irish man with valid US work permit held in ICE detention for five months

323 points by n1b0m 8mo ago

palmotea 8mo ago
> Originally from County Kilkenny, Culleton has lived in the US for more than 20 years, is married to a US citizen and runs a plastering business in the Boston area. > ... > 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).
- catlikesshrimp 8mo ago
  It is not the same thing, but I have an aunt who lived in the US for some 30 years on 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.
  - kvgr 8mo ago
    I think once you get citizenship, you are forever taxed on your world income. So it makes sense for some people to not do it.
  - AnnikaL 8mo ago
    Green cards are for permanent residency, so it makes sense to me that someone would live in the US for 30 years with one. That seems very different than spending over a decade in the US without any permanent status, just temporary visas.
- mothballed 8mo ago
  Probably didn't want worldwide tax-serf status or FATCA banking clusterfuck until the immigration politics fiasco changed the calculus enough it was worth the drawbacks.
- badgersnake 8mo ago
  I imagine it’s in his wife’s name.
- ylow 8mo ago
  Its not so complicated. Not everyone wants a green card. It triggers international taxation, exit taxes if you give it up, etc. If you can maintain a work permit for 20 years, why not? Until life circumstances change sufficiently that it makes sense to have a green card, the balance of pros and cons may not lean towards it.
  - colmmacc 8mo ago
    I don't support this kind of detention, but the case reads like he overstayed his original conditions of entry. 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.
    - jeffbee 8mo ago
      This article is about a man whose human rights are being violated. When you argue about whether or not he should have been arrested based of parsing the facts and the law, you are putting yourself on the same side as Stephen Miller. There is no ethical basis to afflict this treatment on anyone, so everything in your post after the first comma shouldn't be there.
      - deleted 8mo ago
        [deleted]
    - ylow 8mo ago
      Whether he did really have valid work permits, or not, I have no idea. You seem knowledgeable. But I am just generally mildly frustrated by people online jumping to conclusions assuming malice or criminal intent, while knowing nothing about the US immigration process. It is not surprising that people don't know how US immigration works. Why would one need to unless it is something you have to work with? There are so many misunderstands about H1B, GC, etc. 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.
- diggyhole 8mo ago
  We call this getting paid under the table.
- exe34 8mo ago
  Do you really think it would make a difference? POTUS and his entourage have been lying to us on TV while we watch the same clips of their ICEtapo shooting people in the face for brandishing a phone and calling them domestic terrorists. They've picked up people during their citizenship ceremony. Do you seriously think that a piece of paper would make the slightest bit of difference?
  - SpicyLemonZest 8mo ago
    Yes. There's a number of people who have successfully defeated the Trump regime's attempts to oppress them by securing a piece of paper saying they're not allowed to. It doesn't work all the time, and you have every right to be furious about the times when it doesn't, but it's counterproductive to overgeneralize and conclude that legal rights don't matter at all.
    - exe34 8mo ago
      it didn't work for those with a 1st, 2nd or 4th amendment rights.
- steviedotboston 8mo ago
  H1-B is for speciality occupations, like software engineers. A laborer from Ireland isn't going to qualify for that. There are lots of people who come to the US on a tourist visa and overstay with the intent on living and working here. They have family or friends who get them set up with a job and place to live. They work under the table, etc. After a while they can live pretty much like a regular American, and in many states get a drivers license. Boston has lots of Irish illegal immigrants, Chicago has lots of Polish. The way most of them normalize their immigration status is by marrying a US Citizen who can sponsor a green card.
  - deleted 8mo ago
    [deleted]
profsummergig 8mo ago
Per article he owns a business. 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.
- catlikesshrimp 8mo ago
  The bussiness can be lawfully owned by his US native wife. There are possibilities, but as you say, the article is lacking.
  - ranger_danger 8mo ago
    People from other countries can own US companies even if they've never been to the US.
    - mindslight 8mo ago
      It's perversely hilarious to see people supporting fascism for its attacking other individuals, and then demonstrating zero awareness of how little regulation applies to capital crossing borders. It's a crab bucket, alright.
    - profsummergig 8mo ago
      If they are in the US on a work-permit, they have to follow the limitations of the work-permit. They are not free to follow the affordances available to people who are outside the US. For most temporary work-permits, owning a business is not permitted. The govt. wants the worker to work for their sponsor, not own a business. After one gets a GC (i.e. permanent residence), one is free to work for anyone, or start businesses.
      - dalyons 8mo ago
        That’s not actually quite true. You can own a business on a work permit, you just can’t work for it. Which is mostly a pointless arrangement, but possible.
ChrisArchitect 8mo ago
Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46947501 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46947501
RalfWausE 8mo ago
[flagged]
Someone1234 8mo ago
I'd strongly suggest people read the article instead of discussing the title. - 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.
- culi 8mo ago
  I also strongly suggest people read the ACLU's report Resistance, Retaliation, Repression: Two Years in California Immigration Detention. It's from before Trump 2 but no doubt the issues raised in here have only gotten worse https://www.aclunorcal.org/publications/resistance-retaliation-repression-two-years-california-immigration-detention/ 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"
- tty456 8mo ago
  Add to that : "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". Such bullshit
- johnnyanmac 8mo ago
  > I'd strongly suggest people read the article 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.
  - jeltz 8mo ago
vilhelm_s 8mo ago
There is a copy of a court order here which gives more legal details [https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton-ruling.pdf https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton...] > 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.
- empath75 8mo ago
  People should know the legal context of this, which is that the Fifth Circuit is out of step with every other circuit in the country on this.
  - mikeyouse 8mo ago
    Two judges on the 5th overturned what ~150 other judges have found, including some extremely right wing Trump-appointed ones. Just shambolic. https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detention-ruling https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detentio...
- insane_dreamer 8mo ago
  It's shocking that the court could determine this when the whole process of getting permanent residency involves an adjustment of status that allows you to remain in the country even though your visa has expired so long as your application is being processed (which can take a very long time). You just can't leave the country. So to arrest someone while they are following the steps they're supposed to be following, is similar to entrapment (do X and you'll be ok, then they do X and get arrested).
bakies 8mo ago
It's never been about immigration.
- betaby 8mo ago
  But what it is about? What's the end game in detaining lawful workers?
  - femiagbabiaka 8mo ago
    signal fear, which causes a drop in legal immigration
  - Daishiman 8mo ago
    Paving the way for arbitrary detentions and concentration camps.
    - pbhjpbhj 8mo ago
      These are already arbitrary detentions, well unlawful at least (they're purposeful, just not for legal purposes). 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.
  - throw0101c 8mo ago
    Normalizing paramilitary forces in US cities/areas, especially Democrat-leaning ones. See also early actions of deploying National Guard units (from Southern areas into Northern ones).
  - daxuak 8mo ago
    Can't you see that they are using immigration questions as an excuse to consolidate power that exceeds immigration enforcement by a large margin? The ability to detain lawful workers or pull people off the street without a warrant from a judge & hold them illegally for a significant duration can become political retaliation or terror tool and a racial profiling vehicle very quickly. 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.
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
bitbytebane 8mo ago
[flagged]
ck2 8mo ago
No way LA Olympics can happen 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
- fhdkweig 8mo ago
  I'm still trying to figure out the justification of ICE operating in foreign countries. Are there illegal immigrants in Italy? This is not about immigration. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7007390/2026/01/30/ice-winter-olympics-2026-milan-security/ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7007390/2026/01/30/ice-wint... https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/at-winter-olympics-protest-over-cost-and-ice-ends-in-clash-with-police/ar-AA1VTenS https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/at-winter-olympics-pr...
gamesbrainiac 8mo ago
We have seen many stories like this. Some doubt the authenticity, but what is evident is that these things are happening again and again with impunity. Perhaps you don't think the situation is bad enough, or the details are exaggerated. 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.
- balozi 8mo ago
  [flagged]
  - clipsy 8mo ago
    I must have missed the episode where Babu spent months in a concentration camp despite having his paperwork in order and doing nothing wrong.
  - gamesbrainiac 8mo ago
    I'm afraid I don't since I was too young back then, and never really watched Sienfeld, but man oh man, that sounds terrible. Perhaps we've been living a lie this whole thing.
  - JohnFen 8mo ago
    > ICE took a break during the Obama and Biden years for some reason. This is simply not true.
  - sjs382 8mo ago
    > The reality is the federal gov has been aggressive in its enforcement for decades. ICE took a break during the Obama and Biden years for some reason. ICE was created in 2002 (24 years ago). "The Obama and Biden years" make up a full half of ICE's existence.
  - insane_dreamer 8mo ago
    > he reality is the federal gov has been aggressive in its enforcement for decades. Sure there has been enforcement, but nothing that comes even close to what we're seeing today (except for Trump 1.0 when CBP were separating parents and children and putting them in cages; today we have that plus a whole lot more including murdering citizen observers). ICE should never have been created (more of the fallout of the Americans surrendering so much of their civil liberties while panicked about 9/11), but at least it was a regular accountable law enforcement org and not a paramilitary terrorizing American cities (which technically makes it a domestic terrorism org).
balozi 8mo ago
As presented, that dude's story as makes little sense to anyone familiar with the immigration process. There is more to this story, I wish the reporter would just tell it.
- jzebedee 8mo ago
  If it surprises you, then you haven't paid attention to the blatantly unconstitutional actions of DHS in this administration. The purpose is terror and filling deportation quotas, not enforcing immigration law.
  - temp8830 8mo ago
    So that's the narrative. But if you actually dig into any of these stories you'll quickly find that there is more to them and they are all presented in a very one-sided fashion. The guy from the article would have been deported by Biden's ICE too.
runjake 8mo ago
This is the location he is lodged at. Note the tents don't yet appear in the imagery. https://maps.app.goo.gl/toWTEuEPDXigwwr78 https://maps.app.goo.gl/toWTEuEPDXigwwr78 https://maps.apple.com https://maps.apple.com has higher resolution imagery, but note the location is mismarked (the old facility was by the airport).
marysminefnuf 8mo ago
[flagged]
instagib 8mo ago
He overstayed the 90 day fiancé visa. Got married eventually. That should have triggered a 5-10 year bar from re-entering the US. He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process. Instead, 20 years later he applied for a green card to get a temporary work permit which is usually granted eligible while applying for permanent residency. So he had no work permit or valid status for 20 years. 5 months in detention seems like a long time. They offered to deport him but he refused and supposedly DHS forged his signatures. It’s a messy case but he could have avoided the detention if he willingly asked to be deported immediately then fight for immigration status from where he has citizenship.
- FireBeyond 8mo ago
  > He overstayed the 90 day fiancé visa. Got married eventually. That should have triggered a 5-10 year bar from re-entering the US. > He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process. "Why do people come here illegally? Do it properly!" I immigrated here from Australia. It would have been cheaper, and faster, to come here on the VWP, get married, and apply for forgiveness, than to do it legally. Look at our current first lady. Comes here as a working model on a tourist visa. That should also have triggered a ban from re-entering the US. It's all just such a mess. Revisiting this point: > He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process. I got divorced (we had a sincere intent, but we acknowledged we got married sooner than we would if it wasn't for logistics), and missed one of the dates for AOS. To be clear, at that point it's not just that they say "Oh, whatever", it's that the onus is on USCIS to show fraudulent intent. We'd already had some fairly detailed interviews, separately. "What day does the garbage go out? Who usually takes it out? Who is your auto insurance through? What cars do you own between you? What was the last major update done to your home?" and so on, to demonstrate that you'd been living together in a genuine relationship.
  - vargr616 8mo ago
    i fully agree with deporting the first "lady" on the same grounds. We either respect the rule of law or we don't
1attice 8mo ago
Why is this flagged? As a former foreign TN-1 visa holder, this sort of thing is (a) topically relevant to me, _qua_ software engineer, and (b) technically interesting. What is the valence of deciding that 'curiosity' (the HN gold standard for relevance) does not include topics like this? HN, blink twice if you can hear me; the billionaires seem to be foisting a worldview on us through you.
- oh_my_goodness 8mo ago
  The idea that the US operates under a system of laws is now too controversial for HN.
- metalcrow 8mo ago
  For a real answer, if something being posted to HN only requires it be relevant to someone and be interesting, doesn't that mean that anything is allowed? There is currently a conflict between groups of HN users as to what is reasonable to post here and what isn't.
  - 1attice 8mo ago
    That is how the guidelines read. If practice varies from theory, one must ask who, and what, is being practiced.
    - metalcrow 8mo ago
      Well not exactly. The guidelines are contradictory. They say that "Anything that good hackers would find interesting" is on topic, but "Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports" are off topic. How do you resolve the difference? It's just a cultural decision as to what is allowed and what isn't.
      - roryirvine 8mo ago
        Discussions about visas and immigration have been a core HN feature for the past decade: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts
tamimio 8mo ago
> Mr Culleton said he would like Taoiseach Micheál Martin to mention his case to President Donald Trump when he visits the Oval Office next month. Wow, so basically a banana republic, any matter should be resolved by one person, literally the president himself!! > "To this day we still don't know why he was picked up by ICE. I think they are thinking of “criminal records”, and they see there’s nothing so it should be ok, but I suggest they dig deeper, it’s not about crimes anymore, he probably said something in social media criticizing XYZ and that’s enough to flag him for deportation, that’s the reality now.
- tim333 8mo ago
  Probably some Palantir software flagging him for having been illegal in the past.

323 points by n1b0m 8mo ago

> Originally from County Kilkenny, Culleton has lived in the US for more than 20 years, is married to a US citizen and runs a plastering business in the Boston area. > ... > 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).

catlikesshrimp 8mo ago
It is not the same thing, but I have an aunt who lived in the US for some 30 years on 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.
- kvgr 8mo ago
  I think once you get citizenship, you are forever taxed on your world income. So it makes sense for some people to not do it.
- AnnikaL 8mo ago
  Green cards are for permanent residency, so it makes sense to me that someone would live in the US for 30 years with one. That seems very different than spending over a decade in the US without any permanent status, just temporary visas.
mothballed 8mo ago
Probably didn't want worldwide tax-serf status or FATCA banking clusterfuck until the immigration politics fiasco changed the calculus enough it was worth the drawbacks.
badgersnake 8mo ago
I imagine it’s in his wife’s name.
ylow 8mo ago
Its not so complicated. Not everyone wants a green card. It triggers international taxation, exit taxes if you give it up, etc. If you can maintain a work permit for 20 years, why not? Until life circumstances change sufficiently that it makes sense to have a green card, the balance of pros and cons may not lean towards it.
- colmmacc 8mo ago
  I don't support this kind of detention, but the case reads like he overstayed his original conditions of entry. 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.
  - jeffbee 8mo ago
    This article is about a man whose human rights are being violated. When you argue about whether or not he should have been arrested based of parsing the facts and the law, you are putting yourself on the same side as Stephen Miller. There is no ethical basis to afflict this treatment on anyone, so everything in your post after the first comma shouldn't be there.
    - deleted 8mo ago
      [deleted]
  - ylow 8mo ago
    Whether he did really have valid work permits, or not, I have no idea. You seem knowledgeable. But I am just generally mildly frustrated by people online jumping to conclusions assuming malice or criminal intent, while knowing nothing about the US immigration process. It is not surprising that people don't know how US immigration works. Why would one need to unless it is something you have to work with? There are so many misunderstands about H1B, GC, etc. 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.
diggyhole 8mo ago
We call this getting paid under the table.
exe34 8mo ago
Do you really think it would make a difference? POTUS and his entourage have been lying to us on TV while we watch the same clips of their ICEtapo shooting people in the face for brandishing a phone and calling them domestic terrorists. They've picked up people during their citizenship ceremony. Do you seriously think that a piece of paper would make the slightest bit of difference?
- SpicyLemonZest 8mo ago
  Yes. There's a number of people who have successfully defeated the Trump regime's attempts to oppress them by securing a piece of paper saying they're not allowed to. It doesn't work all the time, and you have every right to be furious about the times when it doesn't, but it's counterproductive to overgeneralize and conclude that legal rights don't matter at all.
  - exe34 8mo ago
    it didn't work for those with a 1st, 2nd or 4th amendment rights.
steviedotboston 8mo ago
H1-B is for speciality occupations, like software engineers. A laborer from Ireland isn't going to qualify for that. There are lots of people who come to the US on a tourist visa and overstay with the intent on living and working here. They have family or friends who get them set up with a job and place to live. They work under the table, etc. After a while they can live pretty much like a regular American, and in many states get a drivers license. Boston has lots of Irish illegal immigrants, Chicago has lots of Polish. The way most of them normalize their immigration status is by marrying a US Citizen who can sponsor a green card.
- deleted 8mo ago
  [deleted]

profsummergig 8mo ago

Per article he owns a business. 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.

catlikesshrimp 8mo ago
The bussiness can be lawfully owned by his US native wife. There are possibilities, but as you say, the article is lacking.
- ranger_danger 8mo ago
  People from other countries can own US companies even if they've never been to the US.
  - mindslight 8mo ago
    It's perversely hilarious to see people supporting fascism for its attacking other individuals, and then demonstrating zero awareness of how little regulation applies to capital crossing borders. It's a crab bucket, alright.
  - profsummergig 8mo ago
    If they are in the US on a work-permit, they have to follow the limitations of the work-permit. They are not free to follow the affordances available to people who are outside the US. For most temporary work-permits, owning a business is not permitted. The govt. wants the worker to work for their sponsor, not own a business. After one gets a GC (i.e. permanent residence), one is free to work for anyone, or start businesses.
    - dalyons 8mo ago
      That’s not actually quite true. You can own a business on a work permit, you just can’t work for it. Which is mostly a pointless arrangement, but possible.

ChrisArchitect 8mo ago

Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46947501 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46947501

RalfWausE 8mo ago

[flagged]

Someone1234 8mo ago

I'd strongly suggest people read the article instead of discussing the title. - 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.

culi 8mo ago
I also strongly suggest people read the ACLU's report Resistance, Retaliation, Repression: Two Years in California Immigration Detention. It's from before Trump 2 but no doubt the issues raised in here have only gotten worse https://www.aclunorcal.org/publications/resistance-retaliation-repression-two-years-california-immigration-detention/ 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"
tty456 8mo ago
Add to that : "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". Such bullshit
johnnyanmac 8mo ago
> I'd strongly suggest people read the article 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.
- jeltz 8mo ago

vilhelm_s 8mo ago

There is a copy of a court order here which gives more legal details [https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton-ruling.pdf https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton...] > 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.

empath75 8mo ago
People should know the legal context of this, which is that the Fifth Circuit is out of step with every other circuit in the country on this.
- mikeyouse 8mo ago
  Two judges on the 5th overturned what ~150 other judges have found, including some extremely right wing Trump-appointed ones. Just shambolic. https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detention-ruling https://www.lawdork.com/p/fifth-circuit-immigration-detentio...
insane_dreamer 8mo ago
It's shocking that the court could determine this when the whole process of getting permanent residency involves an adjustment of status that allows you to remain in the country even though your visa has expired so long as your application is being processed (which can take a very long time). You just can't leave the country. So to arrest someone while they are following the steps they're supposed to be following, is similar to entrapment (do X and you'll be ok, then they do X and get arrested).

bakies 8mo ago

It's never been about immigration.

betaby 8mo ago
But what it is about? What's the end game in detaining lawful workers?
- femiagbabiaka 8mo ago
  signal fear, which causes a drop in legal immigration
- Daishiman 8mo ago
  Paving the way for arbitrary detentions and concentration camps.
  - pbhjpbhj 8mo ago
    These are already arbitrary detentions, well unlawful at least (they're purposeful, just not for legal purposes). 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.
- throw0101c 8mo ago
  Normalizing paramilitary forces in US cities/areas, especially Democrat-leaning ones. See also early actions of deploying National Guard units (from Southern areas into Northern ones).
- daxuak 8mo ago
  Can't you see that they are using immigration questions as an excuse to consolidate power that exceeds immigration enforcement by a large margin? The ability to detain lawful workers or pull people off the street without a warrant from a judge & hold them illegally for a significant duration can become political retaliation or terror tool and a racial profiling vehicle very quickly. 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.

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

bitbytebane 8mo ago

[flagged]

ck2 8mo ago

No way LA Olympics can happen 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

fhdkweig 8mo ago
I'm still trying to figure out the justification of ICE operating in foreign countries. Are there illegal immigrants in Italy? This is not about immigration. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7007390/2026/01/30/ice-winter-olympics-2026-milan-security/ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7007390/2026/01/30/ice-wint... https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/at-winter-olympics-protest-over-cost-and-ice-ends-in-clash-with-police/ar-AA1VTenS https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/at-winter-olympics-pr...

gamesbrainiac 8mo ago

We have seen many stories like this. Some doubt the authenticity, but what is evident is that these things are happening again and again with impunity. Perhaps you don't think the situation is bad enough, or the details are exaggerated. 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.

balozi 8mo ago
[flagged]
- clipsy 8mo ago
  I must have missed the episode where Babu spent months in a concentration camp despite having his paperwork in order and doing nothing wrong.
- gamesbrainiac 8mo ago
  I'm afraid I don't since I was too young back then, and never really watched Sienfeld, but man oh man, that sounds terrible. Perhaps we've been living a lie this whole thing.
- JohnFen 8mo ago
  > ICE took a break during the Obama and Biden years for some reason. This is simply not true.
- sjs382 8mo ago
  > The reality is the federal gov has been aggressive in its enforcement for decades. ICE took a break during the Obama and Biden years for some reason. ICE was created in 2002 (24 years ago). "The Obama and Biden years" make up a full half of ICE's existence.
- insane_dreamer 8mo ago
  > he reality is the federal gov has been aggressive in its enforcement for decades. Sure there has been enforcement, but nothing that comes even close to what we're seeing today (except for Trump 1.0 when CBP were separating parents and children and putting them in cages; today we have that plus a whole lot more including murdering citizen observers). ICE should never have been created (more of the fallout of the Americans surrendering so much of their civil liberties while panicked about 9/11), but at least it was a regular accountable law enforcement org and not a paramilitary terrorizing American cities (which technically makes it a domestic terrorism org).

balozi 8mo ago

As presented, that dude's story as makes little sense to anyone familiar with the immigration process. There is more to this story, I wish the reporter would just tell it.

jzebedee 8mo ago
If it surprises you, then you haven't paid attention to the blatantly unconstitutional actions of DHS in this administration. The purpose is terror and filling deportation quotas, not enforcing immigration law.
- temp8830 8mo ago
  So that's the narrative. But if you actually dig into any of these stories you'll quickly find that there is more to them and they are all presented in a very one-sided fashion. The guy from the article would have been deported by Biden's ICE too.

runjake 8mo ago

This is the location he is lodged at. Note the tents don't yet appear in the imagery. https://maps.app.goo.gl/toWTEuEPDXigwwr78 https://maps.app.goo.gl/toWTEuEPDXigwwr78 https://maps.apple.com https://maps.apple.com has higher resolution imagery, but note the location is mismarked (the old facility was by the airport).

marysminefnuf 8mo ago

[flagged]

instagib 8mo ago

He overstayed the 90 day fiancé visa. Got married eventually. That should have triggered a 5-10 year bar from re-entering the US. He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process. Instead, 20 years later he applied for a green card to get a temporary work permit which is usually granted eligible while applying for permanent residency. So he had no work permit or valid status for 20 years. 5 months in detention seems like a long time. They offered to deport him but he refused and supposedly DHS forged his signatures. It’s a messy case but he could have avoided the detention if he willingly asked to be deported immediately then fight for immigration status from where he has citizenship.

FireBeyond 8mo ago
> He overstayed the 90 day fiancé visa. Got married eventually. That should have triggered a 5-10 year bar from re-entering the US. > He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process. "Why do people come here illegally? Do it properly!" I immigrated here from Australia. It would have been cheaper, and faster, to come here on the VWP, get married, and apply for forgiveness, than to do it legally. Look at our current first lady. Comes here as a working model on a tourist visa. That should also have triggered a ban from re-entering the US. It's all just such a mess. Revisiting this point: > He could have applied for legal status immediately and it is usually waived if you pass the interview process. I got divorced (we had a sincere intent, but we acknowledged we got married sooner than we would if it wasn't for logistics), and missed one of the dates for AOS. To be clear, at that point it's not just that they say "Oh, whatever", it's that the onus is on USCIS to show fraudulent intent. We'd already had some fairly detailed interviews, separately. "What day does the garbage go out? Who usually takes it out? Who is your auto insurance through? What cars do you own between you? What was the last major update done to your home?" and so on, to demonstrate that you'd been living together in a genuine relationship.
- vargr616 8mo ago
  i fully agree with deporting the first "lady" on the same grounds. We either respect the rule of law or we don't

1attice 8mo ago

Why is this flagged? As a former foreign TN-1 visa holder, this sort of thing is (a) topically relevant to me, _qua_ software engineer, and (b) technically interesting. What is the valence of deciding that 'curiosity' (the HN gold standard for relevance) does not include topics like this? HN, blink twice if you can hear me; the billionaires seem to be foisting a worldview on us through you.

oh_my_goodness 8mo ago
The idea that the US operates under a system of laws is now too controversial for HN.
metalcrow 8mo ago
For a real answer, if something being posted to HN only requires it be relevant to someone and be interesting, doesn't that mean that anything is allowed? There is currently a conflict between groups of HN users as to what is reasonable to post here and what isn't.
- 1attice 8mo ago
  That is how the guidelines read. If practice varies from theory, one must ask who, and what, is being practiced.
  - metalcrow 8mo ago
    Well not exactly. The guidelines are contradictory. They say that "Anything that good hackers would find interesting" is on topic, but "Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports" are off topic. How do you resolve the difference? It's just a cultural decision as to what is allowed and what isn't.
    - roryirvine 8mo ago
      Discussions about visas and immigration have been a core HN feature for the past decade: https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=proberts

tamimio 8mo ago

> Mr Culleton said he would like Taoiseach Micheál Martin to mention his case to President Donald Trump when he visits the Oval Office next month. Wow, so basically a banana republic, any matter should be resolved by one person, literally the president himself!! > "To this day we still don't know why he was picked up by ICE. I think they are thinking of “criminal records”, and they see there’s nothing so it should be ok, but I suggest they dig deeper, it’s not about crimes anymore, he probably said something in social media criticizing XYZ and that’s enough to flag him for deportation, that’s the reality now.

tim333 8mo ago
Probably some Palantir software flagging him for having been illegal in the past.