Irish Citizen Recalls Being ‘Kidnapped’ by ICE and Facing ‘Most Inhumane Conditions’ of His Life
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Lee Stinton, a 45-year-old Irish hairdresser, recalled his time in ICE detention in a recent interview with the Belfast Telegraph.
Stinton, who is from Lisburn, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland, told the Telegraph that he was “kidnapped” off a Florida street and held in inhuman conditions for around a month before before being deported back to the UK. Stinton told the paper that he had all the correct paperwork to be in the United States, legally paid his U.S. taxes, and that federal agents told him, “You look Mexican,” while arresting him.
“This all started around, I think if I remember correctly, it was June… I was on my way to work, which I did every day. I cycled every day and I was arrested by an ICE officer and kind of kidnapped, I guess, off the street and taken to Krome Detention Center,” Stinton told the Telegraph, adding:
The conditions in Krome were the most inhumane thing that I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’m sorry. Had nowhere for anyone to sleep. They weren’t feeding people and they were very abusive to the inmates.
The holding cell that they had us in for almost eight days was meant to have 10 people in it and there was at least 100 men. We were like sardines all just stuck on like a concrete, cold concrete floor. I want people to know that it’s not just criminals that are being taken. It’s like normal everyday people.
Like myself, like I… I had a correct visa. I had all my paperwork together. I had a social security number. I paid my taxes. I’ve never been in trouble with the police before in my life, either in America or Northern Ireland. And still they took me. You know, I think they’re just looking for numbers at this point. A lot of things that either happened to me and happened to others.
There was a guy that I’d been asking for his medication for days for his heart. And when we were out in the rec hall, he, or the rec yard, sorry, he dropped out of a heart attack in front of everyone. They kind of just moved us all the way from him, but it’s something that I’m never ever gonna forget. You know, it’s ingrained in my head.
Watch above.
