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Irishman shackled and handcuffed by ICE at airport for overstaying his visa to work in the US

Story by Fernando Alba
• 6h • 2 min read



Evan Deveney© Reach Publishing Services Limited

Evan Deveney spent a year building a life in the U.S., earning an honest living on construction sites. Suddenly, he was back home in Ireland after being shackled and handcuffed by ICE.
The Irishman says his experience immigrating to the U.S. reveals "a harsh, unyielding truth about how the modern U.S. immigration system treats ordinary working people."

Deveney arrived to New York in September 2025 on a standard 90-day tourist visa.
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"Like thousands of young Irish fellas before me, I wanted to experience America, work hard and become a better version of myself," he wrote on Instagram.
When his three months expired, he decided to stay. For the next eight months, he worked on construction sites across New York.
"I loved the energy of the job sites, the camaraderie with the lads and the pride of working on skyscrapers like thousands of Irish before me," Deveney wrote.



Evan Deveney© Reach Publishing Services Limited

But after overstaying his visa, he felt there was a "quiet, heavy shadow" following him.
"You go to sleep most nights knowing that a single routine check or wrong turn could blow your entire life apart in an instant," he said.
In May 2026, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to experience another part of the country, living with the anxiety that he would be caught one day.
That day finally came on Aug. 12, when he and a friend were at Nashville International Airport as they were getting ready to fly to Montana for a one-week vacation.



DULLES, VIRGINIA - MARCH 24: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents patrol Dulles International Airport on March 24, 2026 in Dulles, Virginia.

The travel disruptions continue as hundreds of TSA agents quit or work without pay during a partial government shutdown. U.S. President Donald Trump deployed ICE agents to U.S. airports on Monday, with border czar Tom Homan in charge of the effort. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)© Getty

After going through TSA security like he normally would and grabbing a coffee, five U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents wearing body armor and carrying handguns appeared.
"The shock was immediate. I felt stupid for trying to fly, but the total humiliation that followed was worse," Deveney said.

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In front of passengers, ICE agents handcuffed him and shackled his ankles. "The agents laughed as I was standing there," he said.
He was taken to the local ICE office in Nashville, where Deveney said he was given deportation paperwork and was forced to sign a 10-year ban from returning to the U.S.
Deveney spent the next month at a detention center in Louisiana, which he called a "brutal prison system."
Sometimes meals were never served to him, when they were served they were bare and dry. He said guards would outright lie to him and other detainees in an attempt to break them down mentally.
Finally, in early September he was flown to Dublin. It was a relief, he said, to see his parents, who worried for weeks.
"My experience highlights an absolute failure in policy," Deveney wrote.

Irishman shackled and handcuffed by ICE at airport for overstaying his visa to work in the US