Thomas, a 35-year-old tech worker and father of three from Ireland, visited his girlfriend in West Virginia last fall. He had traveled to the US many times before, authorized under a visa waiver program allowing tourists a 90-day stay.
He intended to return to Ireland in December but couldn’t fly briefly due to a health issue, according to his medical records. He was only three days past his authorized stay when police involvement led to his detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
What followed was a harrowing experience: he was detained by Ice across three facilities, spending around 100 days in custody with little clarity on the reasons or release timeframe.
“Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it,” Thomas said in a recent interview from his home in Ireland, months after his release. He requested a nickname for identification, fearing further issues with US immigration authorities.
Despite immediately agreeing to deportation upon arrest, Thomas remained in Ice detention following Donald Trump’s administration’s increased immigration arrests. Overcrowding forced part of his detention to be in a federal prison for criminal defendants, despite his hold being solely for an immigration violation.
Thomas was returned to Ireland in March and banned from entering the US for 10 years.
Thomas’s situation reflects a growing trend of tourists and visa holders from countries like Australia, Germany, Canada, and the UK being detained by Ice. In April, Irish green card holder Cliona Ward was detained by Ice for 17 days due to a nearly two-decade-old criminal record.
These arrests appear to align with the Trump administration’s expanded crackdown, including deporting students allegedly tied to pro-Palestinian protests, sending detainees to Guantánamo Bay and an El Salvador prison without evidence, deporting people to war-torn South Sudan without ties, and escalating large-scale militarized raids.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, Thomas shared details about his ordeal and the harsh detention conditions, which advocates say have long impacted undocumented people and worsened under Trump.
Thomas, a tech firm engineer, had previously visited the US without issue under the visa waiver program. His initial plan was to return in October, but he tore his calf severely, causing swelling and walking difficulty. A doctor advised against travel for 8-12 weeks due to blood clot risk, leading to an extended stay past his December 8th expiration.
He obtained documentation from his physician and contacted the Irish and American embassies and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seeking an extension, but the notice was short, and he received no response.
“I did everything I could with the online tools available to notify the authorities that this was happening,” he said, adding that he was almost healed and planned to return soon by the time his deadline neared. “I thought they would understand because I had the correct paperwork. It was just a couple of days for medical reasons.”
His immigration issues may have been avoided if not for an unfortunate encounter with law enforcement.
While visiting his girlfriend, Malone, in Savannah, Georgia, Thomas experienced a mental health event, he and Malone recalled. A conflict in their hotel room was overheard, and someone called the police.
Malone, using her middle name to protect her boyfriend’s identity, hoped officers would get him treatment and avoid criminal charges. However, police arrested him for “falsely imprisoning” his girlfriend in the hotel room, a charge Malone said she did not support.
After being released on bond, he was taken into custody by US immigration authorities and transported 100 miles to an Ice processing center in Folkston, Georgia, operated by private prison company Geo Group, with a capacity of over 1,000 people.
Thomas received a two-page removal order citing remaining in the US three days past authorization, with no other allegations. On December 17, he signed a form agreeing to be removed.
Despite signing, he remained at Folkston without answers on why Ice wasn’t deporting him or how long he would be held. Attorney David Cheng, who represented Thomas, requested Ice release him under an agreement to return to Ireland as planned, but Ice reportedly refused.
Thomas said that after a fight broke out at Folkston, detainees were placed on lockdown for about five days, with restricted contact with families, and only about one hour of outdoor time per week.
In mid-February, officers placed him and nearly 50 other detainees in a holding cell, preparing to move them. “I thought I was finally going home,” he said.
He called his family to share the news.
Instead, they were shackled around their wrists, waists, and legs and transported four hours to the federal correctional institution, Atlanta, a prison run by the US Bureau of Prisons (BoP).
BoP houses criminal defendants on federal charges. The Trump administration increasingly put immigrants into BoP facilities as part of expanding Ice detention, which advocates say led to chaos, overcrowding, and rights violations.
Thomas said BoP conditions and treatment were worse than Ice detention: “They were not prepared for us whatsoever.”
He and others were put in an area with dirty mattresses, cockroaches, and mice, with some bunkbeds lacking ladders. He said people were forced to climb to the top.
BoP appeared short on clothes. Thomas received a jumpsuit but no shirt, plus used, ripped underwear with brown stains. Some jumpsuits seemed to have bloodstains and holes.
Detainees were given one toilet paper roll per week. Thomas shared a cell and says they were only allowed to flush the toilet three times an hour. He was often cold and given only a thin blanket. The food was “disgusting slop”, occasionally containing mysterious meat with bone chunks and other inedible items. He was often hungry.
“The staff didn’t know why we were there, and they were treating us exactly as they would treat BoP prisoners, and they told us that,” Thomas said. “We were treated less than human.”
He and others requested medical visits but were never seen by physicians. “I heard people crying for doctors, saying they couldn’t breathe, and staff would just say, ‘Well, I’m not a doctor,’ and walk away.”
He eventually received the psychiatric medication requested, but staff threw his pill under his cell door, requiring him to search the floor.
Recreation time, he said, was in an enclosure partially open to fresh air but resembling an indoor cage. “You couldn’t see the outside whatsoever. I didn’t see the sky for weeks.”
He had sciatica from a hip injury and said he had “unbearable” nerve pain due to limited movement.
Thomas believed Ice’s placements in BoP were arbitrary and poorly planned. Of the nearly 50 transferred, around 30 were returned to Folkston a week later, and after another week, two were once again returned to BoP.
In the Atlanta facility, Ice representatives would visit weekly. Detainees would crowd around them, seeking case updates or help. Ice officers spoke English and Spanish, but detainees from the Middle East and North Africa were confused. “It was pandemonium,” Thomas said.
Thomas said a BoP guard teared up “watching the desperation of the people trying to talk to Ice and find out what was happening,” and tried to assist. Thomas and Malone helped asylum seekers and others by connecting them to advocates.
Thomas couldn’t speak to his children as there was no way to make international calls: “I don’t know how I made it through.”
In mid-March, he was briefly transferred to a different Ice facility. Authorities didn’t explain the reason, but two armed federal officers escorted him on a flight back to Ireland.
DHS and Ice did not respond to inquiries, and a Geo Group spokesperson declined comment.
Donald Murphy, a BoP spokesperson, confirmed that Thomas had been in bureau custody but didn’t comment on his case or Atlanta conditions. BoP houses Ice detainees in eight prisons and would “continue to support our law enforcement partners to fulfil the administration’s policy objectives”, he added.
The reason for Thomas’s lengthy jail time for a minor violation is unclear.
“It seems completely outlandish that they would detain someone for three months because he overstayed a visa for a medical reason,” said Sirine Shebaya, executive director of the National Immigration Project, who wasn’t involved but was provided a summary by the Guardian. “It is such a waste of time and money at a time when we’re hearing constantly about how the government wants to cut expenses. It seems like a completely incomprehensible, punitive detention.”
She added that Ice was “creating its own crisis of overcrowding”.
Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock, senior policy counsel with the National Immigration Law Center (not involved in the case), stated it’s not unusual for someone to be detained post-removal order acceptance and has seen European clients surprised by serious consequences for briefly overstaying a visa.
Ice had the discretion to release Thomas with an agreement for him to return home, instead of indefinite detention. The Trump administration defaulted to detention, without considering individual cases. “Now it’s just, do we have a bed?”
Samantha Hamilton, staff attorney with Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, a non-profit group that advocates for immigrants’ rights, stated that Georgia passed state legislation last year compelling police to alert immigration authorities regarding undocumented persons, which could have helped led to Thomas being flagged by Ice. She met Thomas during a legal visit at the Atlanta BoP facility.
Hamilton expressed concern about racial profiling targeting immigrants of color and highlighted Thomas’s ordeal as a reminder of widespread vulnerability. “The mass detentions are terrifying and it makes me afraid for everyone.”
Thomas, who previously traveled to the US for work, doubts future entry. “This will be a lifelong burden.”
Malone plans to move to Ireland to be with him. “It’s not an option for him to come here and I don’t want to be in America anymore.”
Since returning, Thomas has struggled to sleep and process events. “I’ll never forget it, and it’ll be a long time before I’ll be able to even start to unpack everything I went through. It still doesn’t feel real. When I think about it, it’s like a movie I’m watching.”
He has had long-term health issues attributed to malnutrition and inappropriate medication during detention.
He was disturbed by reports of people sent away without due process. “I wouldn’t have been surprised if I ended up at Guantánamo Bay or El Salvador, because it was so disorganised. I was just at the mercy of the federal government.”
