Brooklyn man fights for freedom of husband detained by ICE at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ over alleged missed hearing

The beloved husband of a Brooklyn man detained by ICE at 26 Federal Plaza last month says the love of his life is now stuck in a cage in the Florida mass detention camp known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

As of Tuesday morning Allan Dabrio Marrero says he still has not been permitted to shower nearly one week after being transferred to the infamous facility. In a desperate phone call to his husband, Matthew Marrero, he described his current living conditions.

“It’s like a tent, and there are cages inside the tent, and there’s like 36 beds in each cage that you’re in, along with the bathroom stall that you have to use in front of everyone,” the detained Marrero desperately told his husband in a conversation that amNewYork heard. “I haven’t gotten my medication. But the doctor said that they would try to get all of the ones that I listed for them, which is my regular medication, and they will try to get it to me here. But he said that there’s no guarantee, because this is a prison.”

Allan Dabrio Marrero was detained by ICE on Nov. 24 when he and his husband attended a green card interview on the 8th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. What the couple thought would be a routine step in their journey quickly evolved into a nightmare when they were informed that Allan had unknowingly missed a hearing back in 2022. 

Within moments, they were rushed out of an ICE office into the hallways of the building, where Allan was apprehended by ICE agents in a tearful separation.

According to Matthew Marrero, the man who has been standing helplessly by as his best friend and life partner was first taken to the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, NJ. A short time later, Allan was transferred to “Alligator Alcatraz,” a mass detention camp built on the fringes of the Florida Everglades.

For the man left behind, he says the days are bleeding together as he attempts to navigate a life without his husband while trying to fight for his freedom.

“I’ve been exhausted. I haven’t slept very well. You know, my life is on pause,” Matthew Marrero said. “Everything has just been on pause. It’s exhausting, emotionally draining, and just very, very sad.”

Matthew Marrero told amNewYork that he has been working with his church, Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village, and legal representatives from Make the Road New York in an effort to win Allan’s freedom. Matthew’s sister even created a GoFundMe to help pay for the battle, while also asking the public to contact the Executive Office for Immigration Review and demanding his release.

“Shame on this administration that claims to be family first. Shame on this administration that cares more about the money in one’s wallet than the content of one’s character,” Andrea Marrero wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Border Czar Tom Homan has repeatedly said that the Trump Administration is only targeting “the worst of the worst” in its immigration crackdown — namely, immigrants with criminal records. However, the ongoing sweeps across America have seen immigrants without criminal records, high school students, and even citizens apprehended by ICE agents.

Matthew told amNewYork that his husband does not have a criminal record and has never been arrested for a crime.

For years, the couple lived together in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with their pet dogs. Today, Matthew is more than 1,200 miles away from Ochopee, FL, where Allan is incarcerated.

Matthew said the conditions Allen has experienced seem to corroborate the reporting about what those imprisoned at Alligator Alcatraz are enduring daily.

“They don’t follow the same regulations and systems as the other ICE detention centers; that’s why you hear horror stories about this place, because it’s almost like they don’t follow the same rules as the other places,” Matthew said. “They’re in the middle of the Everglades, which is a swamp, you know. The toilets are in a cage, and they have to sit in front of everybody so that they go to the bathroom. It’s crazy.”

In a phone call, Allan also revealed that staff at the detention center have been attempting to entice him to sign self-deportation papers, even offering him cash to do so. It’s a tactic that many of those in ICE custody say the Feds have used to expedite the removal process.

“They told us that we had two choices: we could either see the ICE agent on Monday and self-deport and they would give us $1,000 and we can come back to the US at any time after we’re self-deported, provided we have a clean record. And the second option was that we would potentially stay here, and we had to win our case against ICE, our immigration case against ICE. If we didn’t win our case, then we would be deported. We have to pay a $5,000 fine, and we can’t come back to the country for 10 years,” Allan said.

Matthew and his family say they remained steadfast and will continue to fight for Allan’s freedom.