It’s a feeling of disappointment that hangs in the air as Matthew and Allan Marrero talk over the phone. 

What You Need To Know

  • Matthew and Allan Marrero have been separated for nearly three months after Allan was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in November

  • Allan was detained by ICE officials after attending a routine green card interview. It was the next step in the couple’s journey together after marrying in 2023 

  • The U.S. Department of Homeland Security placed a stay on Allan’s case after an immigration judge granted him bail. DHS said Allan overstayed a tourist visa and missed a key immigration hearing 

This has become their new reality as the two navigate Allan’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. 

Allan has been in ICE custody since November following a routine green card interview.

The couple married in 2023 and was taking the next steps in getting Allan his permanent residency after immigrating from the Cayman Islands. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Allan was an “illegal alien” that had not only overstayed his tourist visa but also missed a hearing.

In a statement to NY1, Assistant Secretary for DHS Tricia MacLaughlin wrote: “After he failed to show up for his immigration hearing, a judge issued him a final order of removal in 2022. He has received and will continue to receive full due process and currently remains in custody.”

Matthew and Allan see it differently. 

The couple claim Allan didn’t know he had a hearing, and it was an accident.

From 26 Federal Plaza, Allan then went to Delaney Hall in New Jersey and then a slew of other facilities, including the Florida facility known as “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida, before ending up in Mississippi. 

DHS did not respond to NY1’s question on why Allan was transferred to multiple facilities. 

NY1 traveled to Mississippi where Allan was set to receive a bond hearing at the Adams County Correctional Facility in Natchez.  

Matthew was staying at a nearby hotel, waiting and hoping for the call that his husband would be released. 

An immigration judge on Tuesday granted that release on $6,000 bail, but then there was another development: DHS placed a stay on the decision, meaning Allan would continue to be held. 

DHS did not provide a reason for the stay in Allan’s case. 

The move by DHS left Matthew to wait in his hotel room once again. 

But it has not stopped their determination to secure Allan’s release. While they wait to hear from the court, part of their new legal plan is to get Allan to reapply for his green card. 

Top immigration officials claim they are going after the worst criminals and undocumented offenders. 

“This administration is absolutely focused on identifying and removal that pose a public safety threat and national security threats,” White House “border czar” Tom Homan said on Thursday.  

Allan’s attorney and family say he has no criminal history. 

Rep. Dan Goldman, who represents the district covering 26 Federal Plaza, has been an outspoken critic of the immigration crackdown in the city. 

“This is becoming the civil rights issue of our era,” he said. “This is authoritarianism; this is not democracy. And it’s not just an attack on immigrants; it’s an attack on all of us. It’s an attack on our values, on our morals, on our basic tenets of democracy.” 

For now, Allan will continue to wait at the ICE facility here in Natchez, Mississippi. 

Matthew remains in Natchez, a sleepy Mississippi town, driving back and forth to visit his husband with the homes of reuniting soon.

He had these questions for ICE officials: “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Are you going after the worst of the worst? Are you up holding the law and the constitution? Are you having any form of compassion for the people who are only trying to achieve the life that they’ve dreamed of?”