News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
[dead]
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by pavel_lishin on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:48PM (#46948342)
> The man concedes he came to the U.S. illegally.

Not according to the article?

> "And I did, I complied with everything they said. They asked me if I had a Green Card, I said I didn't, I said I was married to a citizen and that I had a marriage-based petition in place and I was just about to receive my Green Card and that I had a work permit to be here and work."

> He said he had received the work permit about "a month or so earlier", so as far as he knew he was covered.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rayiner on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:59PM (#46948507)
It's in the legal filings: https://www.universalhub.com/files/attachments/2026/culleton...

"Culleton concedes he is removable under the VWP. Reply 10."

He came to the U.S. under the Visa Waiver Program, which is limited to 90 days, back in 2009.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by drecked on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:22PM (#46948843)
And yet neither has he been removed nor has he been granted access to a trial.

I also like these parts:

> Culleton testified that he did not sign the Notice nor did he write “I’m married to a citizen and have a work permit” on it.

> Secore testified that he remembered serving the Notice on Culleton, but not watching Culleton sign it.

> Secore also testified that the paperwork was riddled with mistaken dates because of the way ICE’s computer system operates.

> Secore testified that he should have caught those errors when processing the paperwork, but that he “missed” them.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rayiner on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:52PM (#46949240)
> And yet neither has he been removed nor has he been granted access to a trial.

What do you think that proves?

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by ozozozd on Monday February 09, 2026 @04:25PM (#46951618)
It proves that my tax dollars are wasted on whoever is running this sloppy process and the crappy private prison.

It’s one thing to not be bothered by constitutional violations, it’s a whole another thing to be ok with squandering our tax dollars.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by cherry_tree on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @03:10PM (#46966087)
Which is to say, he came here legally with a 90 day visa. Not illegally as you stated previously.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:50PM (#46948371)
You are completely incorrect. An Employment Authorization Document, which he is referring to, does not imply or confer ANY immigration status.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by nextaccountic on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:56PM (#46948445)
https://universityfinance.richmond.edu/payroll/international...

An EAD gives a person legal status to work in the United States but has fewer privileges than a green card.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:01PM (#46948526)
Again, completely false. An EAD does not issue ANY immigration status, period. He had no legal status prior to marriage and still has no legal status because he has no green card and has racked up 20 years of overstay.

EADs are not issued to people with immigration status (eg. citizens or permanent residents). It is ONLY issued to those with no status.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by reverius42 on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @01:23AM (#46956037)
If "immigration" and "work authorization" are two completely different things, are you claiming that everyone in the US on a work visa is an "illegal immigrant"? Surely "having work authorization" counts as some kind of legal status or we wouldn't have people on work visas at all.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @11:18AM (#46962025)
I made no such claim. I explicitly said that an EAD implies no legal status in itself. A pending Adjustment of Status does not provide legal status, either. If you already had a massive overstay, and your Adjustment of Status was likely to be denied due to ineligibility, and you have an order of removal, you're going home, of course.

And as we now know, the Irish man in question:

- Entered under VWP, which EXPLICITLY bars any form of status adjustment

- Filed a Habeas Corpus petition, which was denied by a judge

- Has a final order of removal, signed by a judge, not an administrator

In fact, you need to just take a look at the back of an EAD card. It explicitly states it is not evidence of status.

This guy is a weird hill for you to die on. He overstayed TWENTY YEARS and immigration courts, which are known to be far more lenient, have denied his ridiculous arguments to stay.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by reverius42 on Wednesday February 11, 2026 @11:28PM (#46984908)
I'm not dying on any hill! Sorry, I just misunderstood your point the first time. Thank you for clarifying.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Thursday February 12, 2026 @12:38PM (#46992047)
The same Irish man left Ireland because he was facing drug charges. I guess now we know why he overstayed 20 years, he fled Irish police.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by SpicyLemonZest on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:07PM (#46948622)
From what I can tell you're right, but this seems like it's 100% the fault of the United States and 0% his. Why would you issue a document certifying authorization to work in the United States that does not imply authorization to be in the United States?
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rottingchris on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:51PM (#46948380)
> But U.S. law prohibits illegal immigrants from getting a green card

Your link and quote does not support this specific claim. The law linked is about naturalization and not about being granted permanent resident status.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rayiner on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:05PM (#46948587)
Sorry, you're right. The provision that applies that to green cards is 8 USC 1255. There was a Supreme Court case about this recently: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20-315_q713.pdf
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by cherry_tree on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @10:40AM (#46961265)
> Section 1255 generally requires a lawful admission before a person can obtain LPR status. Sanchez was not lawfully admitted, and his TPS does not alter that fact. He therefore cannot become a permanent resident of this country.

Do you have any evidence this man entered the USA illegally? Seems to me he obviously had a 90 day tourist visa when he entered the country at least. Sounds like lawful admission to me.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by coffeebeqn on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:51PM (#46948388)
Where did it say he arrived illegally? Sounds like he’s awaiting Adjustment of Status based on family ties from getting married but doesn’t say what his status was before
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rootusrootus on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:57PM (#46948463)
I agree that it doesn't say that in the article, but on the other hand, he admits having been here for 20 years. That definitely implies that he is here illegally and knew it. He likely would get denied a green card as a result of that choice.

As much as I loathe everything about how ICE is conducting their activities these days, this case does not seem like a good candidate for sympathy, it does not look like injustice.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by danudey on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:18PM (#46948783)
It doesn't look like injustice that he's been locked up in squalid conditions for five months with no trial or process? How long is he going to be there? Is he going to face a trial or tribunal? Is he getting deported?

If you think he should be free to stay in the US, fine; if you think he deserves to be deported, fine; what he doesn't deserve is to be corralled indefinitely in filthy conditions just because they need to meet their quotas.

If you don't think that's injustice then there's something wrong with your sense of morality.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rootusrootus on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:29PM (#46948920)
Despite breathless claims to the contrary, I strongly suspect that he could volunteer today to be deported, sign the paperwork and be on a plane back to Ireland within days. The gov't would be perfectly happy to rid themselves of the problem, ban him from returning, and send him on his way.

Though I could believe it would take a little longer right now due to the volume of detentions and the apparent incompetence of ICE.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by alexgieg on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:28PM (#46948911)
In your view, is legality always and invariably the same as justice? In other words, are all laws just, and all that's just is codified as law?
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rootusrootus on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:38PM (#46949033)
> always and invariably

When you frame a question as an absolute, I feel comfortable answering no.

If you have a real philosophical argument you want to make, go for it.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by alexgieg on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @09:59AM (#46960535)
You said what happened to him was just. Most people I've seen have taken the position it was legal but unjust.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rayiner on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:54PM (#46949273)
Just includes citizens being able to decide the terms and conditions on which outsiders are allowed into their country. Being able to decide the conditions for immigration is a fundamental consequence of the right of self determination.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by alexgieg on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @10:02AM (#46960585)
It seems US citizens are quite divided on this, which suggests there's intense dissatisfaction with the law as is, and therefore the need to re-legislate the topic following the current will of the majority.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by goatlover on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:03PM (#46948555)
What harm was he doing being here for 20 years? Was he engaged in criminal activities? If not, then I just don't see the point in detaining people who have a life here. Have him jump through the hoops to acquire legal status, that's fine. But deportation is cruel. The US is not in danger of being overpopulated. The whole narrative of dangerous illegals over running the country is a far-right boogey man.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rootusrootus on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:32PM (#46948967)
That is a moral argument, not a legal one. Plenty of people would call what you are describing a moral hazard to be avoided. I imagine the people who are going through the process legally would be especially outraged.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by goatlover on Monday February 09, 2026 @04:07PM (#46951325)
You go through the legal process to make sure you have all the rights of being here legally and don't have to continue worrying about it. That doesn't mean someone who's status changes over time should be detained and deported simply because they're no longer here legally or their legality is in dispute. There are other ways to handle it.

Why be outraged at someone else's status? People migrate for all sorts of reasons.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by rayiner on Monday February 09, 2026 @09:41PM (#46954671)
Someone who came to the U.S. from a first world country on a 90-day visa waiver meant for tourism and business trips should be immediately deported if they overstay their visa. It’s actually the clearest case for deportation there is.

And you should be outraged at people who don’t follow the rules. One of the things that makes America a first world country is that cutting in line is considered a crime against society and carries heavy social consequences. Saying “don’t make noise when you see other people breaking the rules” is the mentality that exists in the third world country I’m from and it has no place in the U.S.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by danudey on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:30PM (#46948941)
> But deportation is cruel.

The cruelty is the point.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by fuddle on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:59PM (#46948502)
He has a valid work permit and is married to a US citizen. He's been locked in a cell with terrible conditions for four-and-a-half months and your trying to justify this?

> the person is being detained only because he is refusing to return to his country of citizenship

He's being detained because ICE chose to detain him.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by ghostly_s on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:49PM (#46948346)
Nowhere in the article does he "concede he came to the U.S. illegally."
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:55PM (#46948439)
Yes it does. He mentions he was able to work because of an Employment Authorization Document associated with his pending I-485 Adjustment of Status, but has been in the US for 20 years.

There is no US visa that allows living there for 20 years without work authorization. He entered illegally (or overstayed illegally) then tried to adjust status based on marriage, which is fraud.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by panda-giddiness on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @01:50AM (#46956187)
Entering illegally != Overstaying a visa.

That may sound like a distinction without a difference to you, but legally they provide very different avenues for acquiring a residency permit.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @11:14AM (#46961919)
We now know he entered under the Visa Waiver Program, which explicitly prohibits adjusting status for any reason. So yeah, it's immigration fraud, and a massive overstay of 20 years.

We also now know a judge refused his Habeas corpus petition, and he has a final order of removal -- signed by a judge, not an administrator.

He also refused to be deported to Ireland.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by helle253 on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:57PM (#46948469)
he received his work permit a month before getting picked up?

it sounds like he was here legally. Maybe not the whole time, i dont know that for sure! but certainly at least at the time he was picked up by ICE goons.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:49PM (#46948355)
The correct approach to do this is the K-1 visa. Anything else is a loophole or fraud. This guy thought he could lie and defraud his way to a visa without doing it properly.

Another alternative is the CR-1 visa, also a legitimate pathway.

The New York Times attempted to cover this scheme a few months ago but when you look into all the cases they all involve lying to the government or outright fraud, for example one case they highlighted was of someone who entered on a K-1 visa, which requires marriage within 90 days and which you legally agree to do, marrying TWO YEARS after entry and attempting to adjust status. So basically, committing massive immigration fraud and betting the government won't notice.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by Thrymr on Monday February 09, 2026 @12:58PM (#46948491)
You're making a lot of assumptions here that are not supported by the article. In any case, if his application is not valid, they can deny his green card application. Why throw him in a detention center for months instead of going through the process? Is he a flight risk? Where would he go?
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:07PM (#46948610)
I did not assume anything. He specifically mentions he was able to work because of an EAD associated with his I-485 Adjustment of Status application, which is the only possible pathway to green card after marriage to a USC.

There is no U.S. visa which allows 20 year stays with no work authorization. Doesn't exist. So he entered illegally.

>Why throw him in a detention center

Because he committed immigration fraud? Overstaying means you lied to CBP. Entering illegally is a crime, too.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by tencentshill on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:46PM (#46949153)
The letter of the law is not black and white. Think critically - why did they turn a relatively blind eye to this issue in all past administrations? Immigrants of any kind are a net benefit to the wealthy and powerful. No billionaire obeys the law to the letter either. It would be nice if we enforced the written law with this level of zeal upon the rich. Pay taxes in "creative" ways? Hire an illegal? Straight to jail, no bail, maximum fine.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Thursday February 12, 2026 @12:38PM (#46992053)
The same Irish man left Ireland because he was facing drug charges. I guess now we know why he overstayed 20 years, he fled Irish police.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by goatlover on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:11PM (#46948671)
So is smoking weed according the US federal government. Whether there is an actual harm being caused that should result in detainment is another matter. I'd argue ripping people away from their lives is a greater harm (via deportation or imprisonment).
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by 0xy on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @11:24AM (#46962169)
That's for the courts to decide, and in this case his Habeas Corpus petition was denied and he has a final order of removal signed by an immigration court judge, who is not a part of the administration.

His I-485 is ineligible, period. He entered under the VWP, which makes you ineligible for any adjustment of status. His case would have been denied, undoubtedly.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by throw20251220 on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:04PM (#46948582)
You are all immigrants there. You all came on boats, you or your ancestors. Killed almost all natives and claim you’re the legal ones.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by hikkerl on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:19PM (#46948793)
If you wouldn't condemn the previous tenants for trying to defend their lands against invaders, then you have no right to condemn us. Hopefully we will have more success.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by bigyabai on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:27PM (#46948898)
> then you have no right to condemn us.

You should read the constitution.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by throw20251220 on Monday February 09, 2026 @01:25PM (#46948871)
Why would I condemn people who were wiped by your ancestors? They were the locals, you’re just… temporary. You don’t even care for the land!
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by wang_li on Monday February 09, 2026 @02:41PM (#46950013)
There is no single "the locals", every tribe represented a different polity. They warred with each other constantly and conquered and took over land all the time. There is no part of the continent that is held by the original human that arrived here first. Every part has been conquered and reconquered many times. The Europeans are just the latest conquerors. Except in the cases where they literally bought the land. Which also happened.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by throw20251220 on Monday February 09, 2026 @04:34PM (#46951764)
Sure. It still doesn’t change the fact that their ancestors performed a genocide on the natives.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by hikkerl on Monday February 09, 2026 @08:41PM (#46954263)
I'm curious if you condemn the modern-day mass-immigration of non-Europeans to Europe for the same reason?

If not, why not?

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by donkeybeer on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @06:13AM (#46958152)
LMFAO LMFAO. EXACTLY AS I HAD PREDICTED. I bet from his overdramatic exaggerations about downvotes meaning "censorship" a situation whre literally no mod powers were invoked, that I bet this idiots psychotic hallucinations probably drama queen and exaggerate in his imagination travel and marriage as violent murderous genocide too. I was absolutely on point!
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by donkeybeer on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @06:17AM (#46958187)
This hikkerl idiot really thinks downvotes are "censorship" and immigration is murderous genocide lmfao. Just how hilariously fucked in the head this hikkerl entity you are trying to talk to is lmfao.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46906678

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by hikkerl on Monday February 09, 2026 @06:40PM (#46953231)
It turns out they were temporary too, as they were not able to defend their lands. Now we are the locals.

Again, unless you are going to condemn them for any attempt made in their defence, then you can't condemn us. Be consistent, else it's just plain racism.

Side note: if you think ICE is brutal you should read what early European settlers had to endure...

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by seanmcdirmid on Monday February 09, 2026 @06:43PM (#46953251)
> Side note: if you think ICE is brutal you should read what early European settlers had to endure...

Or what those settlers made others endure?

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by hikkerl on Monday February 09, 2026 @08:38PM (#46954244)
Again, if you're going to condemn Europeans for any actions committed in the course of colonisation and support the natives' right to violent defence of their territory, then you must also grant the current custodians of the territory the right to violent defence against illegal immigrants whose heinous crimes against our people make for often-shocking headlines.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by seanmcdirmid on Monday February 09, 2026 @09:24PM (#46954549)
Yes, and just like we will eventually be displaced (violently or not) by new arrivals as well, since "might makes right," correct?

It's just how it goes: white settlers kick brown (Indian descended with some European blood) Mexicans off their land, later brown Mexican descendants jump border into the USA to get that land back, white settler descendants kick them away again but demographics means those white settler descendants are going to get displaced one way or the other.

The math of growth curves doesn't lie. Trump is just a last racist hurrah for what was and what isn't meant to be anylonger.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by hikkerl on Monday February 09, 2026 @11:49PM (#46955516)
Fair enough then. I agree that White people ought to be even more vigilant and violent in the defence of our land and people. It's going to be a hell of a shock to people who think that ICE's actions so far have been extreme lol.

It's not just our right but our duty.

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by seanmcdirmid on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @12:35AM (#46955782)
I don't see what violence gets them, just people die and the conclusion will still be the same.

I love immigrants and don't care if my skin color is no longer common, heck I experienced this already when spending 9 years in China.

200-300 years from now we all would have mixed up anyways, we are all humans afterall and who is to say that certain humans have the right to prosperity while others don't based ancestry (because their claim morally is much stronger than ours!).

Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by hikkerl on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @08:12AM (#46959282)
Traitors first. Shame on you.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by donkeybeer on Thursday February 12, 2026 @06:24AM (#46987412)
Hikkerl, your kind are hilarious fucking retards. You are so fucked in the head you think people saying you are a retard is censorship and intermarriage is violent murderous genocide. Who is murdering white people? No wonder with such utterly fucked in the head stupidity and psychotic mental retardation your fucked up kind are attracted to made up completely imaginary crap. Honestly I think your kind is so hilariously brainfucked you should be kept in pens for your own good. You are fine with it since you prefer antidemocratic systems. Answer or fuck off from here.
Re:Irish man detained by ICE for 5 months by donkeybeer on Thursday February 12, 2026 @06:30AM (#46987461)
If the nazism didn't already make it clear what a complete fucking retard his kind is, look at this interaction:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46898304