ICE slammed for 'horrible' St. Patrick's Day post that's being called 'ironic'
People have slammed ICE after the agency posted a St Patrick's Day message to its X page.
The social media post included a photo of a group of ICE agents in with their faces blurred out, holding assault rifles and with pistols and standing in an arrow formation.
It was accompanied by the caption: "Happy Saint Patrick's Day from ICE!"
People piled into the comments to criticize ICE, as well as point out the irony in an agency targeting immigrants celebrating the culture of another country.
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ICE's decision to make the post has been slammed as being in poor taste given the long history of Irish immigration into the US.
The detention of Seamus Culleton from County Kilkenny in September 2025 who has lived in the US for 18 years, and is married to a US citizen also drew criticism.
Mr Culleton was in the process of applying for a green card when he was taken by ICE, and was transported to a detention facility at El Paso in Texas.
People piled into the comments to criticize ICE for the post.
Referring to Mr Culleton's case, one person wrote: "A bit ironic as Ireland is one of the most left wing countries in the world & a majority of its people probably despise ICE… also wasn’t there an Irish citizen who was detained in an immigration camp for months?"
Another person replied: "Take our national day out of your mouth," while another echoed the sentiment, writing: "Nah. Y'all don't get to celebrate the holidays of other countries."
Someone else showed their opposition by replying to the post with a picture of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both US citizens who were shot dead by ICE agents while protesting.
Underneath the picture, they wrote: "Stop killing us. God Bless America"
Immigration to the US from Ireland has a long and complicated history, including tensions between Irish protestants and catholics living in the US, which has historically resulted in violence.
Irish people who emigrated to the US also faced targeted persecution, in particular towards the Irish catholic community.
The number of Irish people emigrating to the US began to rise between 1800 and around 1840.
However, it was the Potato Blight in Ireland which caused the number of people fleeing starvation in Ireland to spike.
Millions fled after potato crops failed in Ireland, while grain continued to be exported from Ireland to England as people starved.
The level of emigration from Ireland following the Potato Famine was so great that Ireland's population has still not returned to the level it was at before the Famine.
LADBible Group has approached ICE for comment.
Kit Roberts