International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed)
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP), Dún Laoghaire

Donald Trump is scapegoating people such as asylum seekers and migrants to deflect anger away from the failure of people like him and the billionaires he represents to address the cost-of-living crisis. He is scapegoating vulnerable immigrants, people seeking asylum or those who are undocumented, including Irish people, in the most horrendous way. We have seen the consequences of that now with Seamus Culleton being treated in what he described as a modern-day concentration camp. That is what Trump is about. This Government is leaning into that stuff. What it is doing is not as absolutely blatant and obscene as what he is doing, but it is leaning into it and the human consequences are appalling, just as they are for Seamus Culleton. The latter is working in the United States. He was not documented, so he probably did not have everything that was necessary for him to be deemed fully legal. However, he is contributing and wants to continue to contribute to American society. We are all rightly appalled that he should be treated in this way because we understand that he is going to contribute in the same way that as millions of other Irish people who have to the countries all over the world to which they have migrated.
People then say that too many of these people are coming to Ireland. The hypocrisy and double standards are appalling, and the human consequences are terrible. I raised the case of Bilal Butt here earlier this year. Bilal has been living and working here. He has two children who were born here and who have lived here all their lives. He was locked up for 50 days pending deportation. This is a man who is contributing to our society. There is no value for him or his children in deporting him. I warned at the time his case arose that his health was in danger. I have written to the Minister, who sitting there looking at his phone, three times about Bilal.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-10