Estranged Twin Daughters Accuse Irish Father of Abandonment, Urge ICE to Return Him for Drug Charges

The estranged twin daughters of Séamus Culleton, an Irish national detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have publicly accused their father of abandoning them as toddlers and urged authorities to return him to Ireland to face outstanding drug charges. Melissa and Heather Morrissey, both 18 years old, spoke exclusively to the Irish Mail on Sunday, detailing how their father left them in the care of their mother, Margaret (Maggie), when they were 18 months old and has not provided financial support or emotional contact since. The twins said they have not received a single euro in child maintenance from Culleton, who currently resides in a Texas immigration detention facility and has been detained for nearly five months.

Culleton, who is from Glenmore, County Kilkenny, has been in the United States since 2009 under the visa waiver program, which allows visitors to stay for up to 90 days without a visa. He failed to leave the country, leading to a final deportation order issued by a federal immigration judge on September 10, 2025. Despite being offered the chance to self-deport, Culleton refused to sign deportation documents and instead opted to remain in custody, paying a $4,000 (€3,400) bond to stay in the El Paso, Texas, detention center. His daughters described his public plea for help from the Irish government and U.S. President Donald Trump as hypocritical, noting that he has outstanding drug charges from 2008 in Ireland, including possession with intent to distribute, possession for personal use, and obstructing a garda in the course of duty.

The twins revealed that they learned of their father's identity when they were 12 years old and began contacting him through Facebook. They said he never initiated communication, and when they reached out, he responded with vague excuses, claiming he believed they would not want to hear from him. Melissa and Heather described their father as someone who