A Bristol native met the love of his life two years ago, and the couple has seldom been apart since.
But last month, while attending an interview at immigration court in New York, his husband was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has been in custody ever since.
Matthew Collin Marrero and Allan Michael Dabrio Marrero, who were living in Brooklyn, New York at the time, went to Federal Plaza Immigration Court in New York for an interview with an immigration officer on Nov. 24. Dabrio Marrero is a citizen of the Cayman Islands, and the couple had applied for a green card through marriage.
The two first met online in 2023. Marrero, who is a singer/songwriter, was doing a “live” event on Instagram when Dabrio Marrero reached out. They were married that same year. When they attended the interview in November, the couple along brought proof of their legitimate marriage with a 3-inch binder that told their love story.
Dabrio Marrero was detained following the meeting and has been in ICE custody ever since for missing a previous hearing in 2022.
“He’s done everything right as far as doing what is required of him to be legal in this country,” Marrero said.
“He has always been documented. He’s not been undocumented — ever. He’s paid taxes every year that he’s worked here. … Why wasn’t the missed hearing red-flagged and we were not given the opportunity to make it right?”
Matthew Collin Marrero, right, and his husband, Allan Michael Dabrio Marrero, were at an interview with an immigration officer at Federal Plaza Immigration Court in New York on Nov. 24 when Dabrio Marrero was detained by ICE agents. (Courtesy of Matthew Collin Marrero)
‘I had about 30 seconds to say goodbye’
Dabrio Marrero came to the U.S. in 2013 on a travel visa and has since applied for asylum. He was working in the hospitality industry and planned on attending nursing school when they attended the immigration interview.
“In 2025, he applied to nursing school and in order to get financial aid you have to have your green card. We had already we had always known that that was something we were going to do, but it wasn’t our main purpose,” Marrero said. “We were married at that point two years, and we thought it was time to start the process, so we did all of the paperwork, paid all of the fees and were given the interview.”
Marrero described the Nov. 24 interview as “very cold, awkward and harsh.” He claimed that the person who did the interview “was not very friendly.” Marrero said it was the first time they learned Dabrio Marrero had missed a hearing in December 2022. Marrero said at that time, his husband was struggling with alcohol and had just lost his grandmother.
“There was a lot of struggles during that time, and Allan was finding himself with his sexuality. He put himself into rehab at the end of that year and had been floating between places because he didn’t have a solid address at that time. He was in rehab when the hearing took place,” Marrero said. “This was the first we had heard of this at all, and the judge ordered him removed from the country at that hearing because he didn’t show. He had been showing up at hearings since 2013.
“He’s meticulous about paperwork and had medical paperwork to prove he was in rehab at the time of the 2022 hearing,” Marrero said, adding that Dabrio Marrero always made sure his address was up-to-date.
Marrero claimed that the person conducting the interview told the couple, “Out of the kindness of my heart, I will make sure that you be able to leave the building today safely otherwise normally I would have had to call ICE and they would have come and taken you right now.”
As the interview went on, Marrero said the person conducting the interview kept exiting and reentering the office.
“She came back in, and she said something along the lines of like ‘Whatever happens in this office is what I can control, but anything outside of this office I cannot control,’” Marrero recalled.
“I asked her flat out, ‘Are you saying that after we leave here, we’re going to be detained?’” he said.
“I don’t know,” she allegedly responded.
“Our pastor was with us, and for some reason they wouldn’t let her in the office with us,” Marrero said. As the couple was leaving, they were rushed down a maze of hallways as ICE agents waited for Dabrio Marrero, who was then detained.
“I had about 30 seconds to say goodbye,” Marrero said. “I didn’t know what to do. It happened so fast and they forced us apart. I took his bag, and I wish I fought harder now looking back at it.”
Shortly after, Marrero met with the couple’s pastor, Amanda Hambrick of Middle Church in New York City.
“She really leapt into action and activated our whole Middle Church community and through the many members of the church, we were able to gain legal counsel and file a motion to have my husband’s case reopened and make sure he is protected and not be deported,” Marrero said.
Dabrio Marrero was held at Federal Plaza for 12 hours as Marrero attempted to get him his daily medication. Before that was able to happen, Dabrio Marrero was moved to Delaney Hall in New Jersey, where Marrero was able to visit.
Dabrio Marrero was then transported from New Jersey to multiple facilities in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana and then the infamous “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida.
“He was in Florida for about a week, and it was awful,” Marrero claimed. “He was literally in a cage with toilets overflowing with feces. He was denied his medication almost the entire process. I can count on one hand how many times he has gotten it.”
Recently, Dabrio Marrero was transported back to a facility in Louisiana then to one in Mississippi, according to Marrero.
“He was taken three days before Thanksgiving so that destroyed our Thanksgiving holiday and now we are approaching Christmas and it’s a repeat of the same thing,” Marrero said. “I want my husband home.”
Matthew Collin Marrero, right, said his legal counsel has done everything legally possible at this point to get his husband, Allan Michael Dabrio Marrero, out of ICE custody, “and we’re just waiting.” (Courtesy of Matthew Collin Marrero)
The wait continues
Marrero said he and Dabrio Marrero have had occasional phone conversations over the past few weeks.
“It’s been a nightmare,” Marrero said. “When I have been able to talk to him, he’s with people in similar situations that have done absolutely nothing wrong. They are not going after the criminals. They are not going after the worst of the worst. They are going after the easiest people to target, which are people doing what they are supposed to do and find some loophole to detain people. It’s disgusting.”
Marrero said the couple went to a prayer group the night before the immigration interview last month, and they were scared but felt it was the right thing to do.
“We understood that there was this possibility there was this fear,” Marrero said. “We were hopeful we have done everything right. Even a missed hearing is a civil offense. You find out that you missed something and you can make it right. But he was treated like the worst criminal. … We went in saying we were going to do the right thing because we just want my husband want so badly to be a citizen. He has been working hard since he’d been here in 2013.”
Marrero said his mother and sister have been “rocks” for him throughout the process. His sister, Andrea Marrero, started a GoFundMe to help the couple with legal fees.
“It’s just an upheaval especially right before the holidays you’re expecting to be all together and we had our Secret Santa names picked out for God sakes, and now we’re like we don’t even know if we’ll be able to see (Allan) for Christmas and in some cases even talk to him because as you know there have been days where we’ve gone without talking to him and and not knowing where he is might be the worst part,” said Andrea Marrero. “If it’s not with our whole family, then it’s not really Christmas.”
Marrero said his legal counsel has filed a motion to reopen the case, and he believes Dabrio Marrero has a strong case with proof that he was in rehab during the missed hearing and notes from doctors that stated he was trying to get his life back on track during that time.
“I understand selfishly the thing that I want is my husband home but also at the same time realizing that this we are one of thousands of people whose rights are being violated and being detained for things that they shouldn’t be,” Marrero said. “We’re doing everything that we can to share our story. We’re doing everything we can to get through to the courts.”
Marrero said he knows his legal counsel has done everything legally possible at this point, “and we’re just waiting.”
“He was here for a better life,” Marrero said. “My family has fallen in love with him, too, and he has fallen in love with my family. We have two beautiful puppies together, and we love our little extended family. We laugh and sing together and finish each other’s sentences. He’s just my best friend and my most important person in the world.”