5 ms·

> 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

> 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo ago
I imagine it’s in his wife’s name.
ylow 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo ago
      [deleted]
  - ylow 9mo 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 9mo ago
We call this getting paid under the table.
exe34 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo ago
    it didn't work for those with a 1st, 2nd or 4th amendment rights.
steviedotboston 9mo 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 9mo ago
  [deleted]

catlikesshrimp 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo ago

I imagine it’s in his wife’s name.

ylow 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo ago
    [deleted]
- ylow 9mo 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 9mo ago

We call this getting paid under the table.

exe34 9mo 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 9mo 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 9mo ago
  it didn't work for those with a 1st, 2nd or 4th amendment rights.

steviedotboston 9mo 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 9mo ago
[deleted]