Roscommon man recounts terrifying ordeal at hands of ICE agents

A Roscommon man living legally in the United States has recounted his terrifying ordeal at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Speaking to the Roscommon Herald from his home in Minnesota, Jonathan Cunniffe has recalled his chilling story of being stopped at gunpoint and detained by ICE agents last month.

Jonathan is originally from Mount Prospect near Fuerty and went to secondary school at CBS Roscommon.

He explained that he has been “fully legal” since moving to the US about three and a half years ago. He has all the required paperwork including a green card, a work visa and social security card.

Jonathan, who is a licensed medical massage therapist, also made it clear that he doesn’t have a criminal record or even a speeding ticket.

On the morning of February 19th, he was driving to his workplace in Cambridge, Minnesota, located approximately 45 minutes from his rural home where he lives with his wife LaShae.

When he stopped at a filling station to fill up his car, he firmly believes that ICE agents in plain clothes overheard his Irish accent when he went to pay at the register. Before he knew it, he was being followed by an unmarked SUV.

“They followed me for about 25 minutes and took every turn that I took and were right behind me,” he said.

The frightening episode escalated when a second SUV, clearly marked as an ICE vehicle, pulled out in front of his car. Men jumped out of both vehicles, including ICE agents in combat gear, and started pointing guns in Jonathan’s face.

“They took my documents, which are all legitimate and looked them over. And they were saying ‘Oh, they aren’t real, they aren’t real’.

He claims he was dragged from his car, assaulted and then bundled into the back of the ICE SUV before being taken to a building in Minneapolis where he remained handcuffed in a room for six hours. 

Jonathan claimed he was assaulted again and subjected to physical aggression and intimidation, despite repeatedly telling ICE agents that he was in the US legally.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it out of that room if I’m being honest with you,” he told the Roscommon Herald.

“They were questioning me about when I came over here. They were bringing up images of me and my wife’s social media. I was completely terrified,” he said.

Jonathan believes that he was eventually released from detention after constantly repeating the assertion that his wife had contacted the Irish Embassy. Feeling battered and bruised and very disoriented, he eventually managed to find his way back home.

What made matters worse for him was that he lost his job the next day for missing work despite explaining to his company what had happened to him. “We think that they’re just scared of the ICE situation,” he said.

Since his ordeal, he is still recovering physically and emotionally. Both he and his wife have been “scared out of our minds” and are afraid to leave the house. They are fearful that they are being watched.

“I barely sleep anymore. My wife has a panic attack every single time I have to step foot out of our door.” 

He has been in touch with the Irish Consulate in Chicago but is still waiting to receive correspondence.

Right now, the couple just want to leave the US as soon as possible and get a one-way ticket to Ireland. Jonathan doesn’t have family living in Roscommon any more but they are hoping to move back temporarily to his sister who lives in Mullingar.

Given their constrained financial situation, they have set up a GoFundMe page in the hope of gathering enough funds to cover the costs of flying to Ireland along with their three lifelong pets.

Their fundraising page can be found at https://gofund.me/79462c3dd