Irish man Seamus Culleton has been detained in an ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] facility in El Paso, Texas for five months.
Earlier this week, Mr Culleton and his family went public with his story in an effort to encourage politicians to help secure his release.
While he had previously been undocumented in the US, Mr Culleton - who is married to US citizen Tiffany Smyth - was in the final stages of applying for his Green Card.
Former Irish ambassador to the US Dan Mulhall explains how diplomacy might work in a case like this.
Mr Mulhall told RTÉ's Behind the Story authorities should focus on his conditions, rather than his status.
"People seem to think you can stride in as a diplomat and wave a diplomatic passport at an ICE detention facility and say, 'I want my Irish citizen' - it doesn’t work like that," he said.
"Diplomacy is a behind-the-scenes activity - so you’ve got to talk to people, persuade them, you’ve got to provide arguments and deploy various forms of pressure.
"What I would be doing is talking to the State Department and saying, ‘whatever the legal position of this man, he’s being held in very difficult circumstances – is there any need for this man to be held in this way? Could you not release him so his status can be determined by the courts?’
"It would be less to do with his case, because that’s for the American legal system to determine, but more a matter of how he’s being detained and the conditions in which he’s having to spend this five-month period".
Mr Mulhall also suggested that perhaps Ireland should consider a visa programme for US visitors to come to Ireland, while seeking "reciprocity" from Washington DC.
This visa programme could mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, which will celebrated on July 4th this year.
Fran and Paul also take a look at the review into children’s spinal surgeries in CHI Temple Street, which was discuss at the Oireachtas Health Committee, and they explain the latest Olympic drama taking place off the ice.
You can listen to Behind the Story which is available on the RTÉ Radio Player.
You can also find episodes on Apple here, or on Spotify here.
