The mother of a Caymanian man detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement – better known as ICE – for more than two months has spoken of her anger and heartbreak over her son’s ongoing ordeal.
Allan Dabrio-Marrero spent Thanksgiving and Christmas behind bars and has been bounced around ICE detention centres, including a stint at the infamous ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in Florida.
Family, friends and church members who have lobbied on his behalf celebrated last week when a judge ordered he be released on $6,000 bond.
But the jubilation quickly turned to anguish when they learned that ICE had requested a ‘stay’ on the decision, allowing the agency time to consider an appeal.
That means Dabrio-Marrero, who was first taken into custody after a routine green card interview on 24 Nov. last year in Manhattan, will remain in ICE detention for at least another 10 days.
His mother, Keisha Dabrio, got the bad news in a call from her son from a detention centre in Mississippi.
“I am outraged and angry and so heartbroken for my son,” she told the Cayman Compass on Friday, 30 Jan.
Despite the setback, she remains hopeful that the judge’s decision will ultimately lead to his release within the next week.
“I do believe in my heart that he will be set free,” she said.
“We are doing everything we can, especially Allan’s wonderful husband Matthew, his sister-in-law Andrea, his lawyer and his church.
“We are grateful to everyone for all the love, support and prayers. We are all just staying hopeful and faithful and praying together.”
She said she had spoken to her son several times as he was moved from one detention centre to another. Despite being locked up with thousands of others, she said he had remained strong and positive.
“When I spoke with him earlier this week, he was so strong. He was the one who was comforting me.”
She said Allan, who she refers to affectionately as ‘Mikey’, is “my first born child and my only son. He is my sunshine.”
She said she had been advised to stay in Cayman, but Allan’s husband was able to visit him in Mississippi.
“You can’t imagine how hard it is to stay here and not get on a plane,” she said. “What is keeping me going is the strength my son is showing and my faith that I will see him again soon. I am so proud of him.”
Shocked by ICE tactics
She said she was shocked by what was happening in the US and by the treatment of people like her son, who is married to an American citizen and has never been in trouble with the law.
“You have no idea until it comes through your front door,” she said.
She said Allan, who had lived and worked in the US since 2013, was in ‘pending asylum’ status after his visitor visa expired. ICE deemed him ‘illegal’ after a mix-up over court paperwork meant he missed a hearing, which was decided in his absence.
“Under the law, because of their blunder, he was entitled to be in the United States while he appealed the court’s order,” she said.
Dabrio said she was taking comfort in the support of her sister Kay and in the fact that her son has a strong community behind him.
“Mikey has so much love and support. We appreciate everyone who is praying for him and supporting him.”
Church fights for justice
Reverend Jacqueline Lewis, senior minister at the Middle Temple Church in Manhattan, where Dabrio-Marrero and his husband are long-time members, said the congregation had celebrated the judge’s decision on Tuesday, only to learn the following day that ICE had taken the unusual step of placing a stay on his bond. Last week’s court order was not a decision that would allow him to stay permanently in the US, but it would have allowed him to return home, rather than in detention, as that process continues.
She said the sudden reversal had been heartbreaking for the couple and the wider church community.
Lewis said Dabrio-Marrero had been detained over a minor administrative issue and treated like a criminal, transferred between multiple detention centres across the country.
She said he was moved from New York to New Jersey, then to Arizona and Texas, including a stint at a facility known as ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, before being transferred to Mississippi, often in shackles and without access to his medication, which he needs for seizures.
She said there was nothing about Dabrio-Marrero that made him a threat. He has no criminal record and is married to a US citizen.
“He is being treated like a criminal. No one is detained in a nice bunk … Allan is a vulnerable, kind, sweet person and it is terrifying that this is happening to him,” she said.
Lewis criticised current US immigration policy and said ICE had exercised its power arbitrarily in seeking a stay on his release.
She also described detention conditions as overcrowded and dehumanising, saying detainees often lack adequate food, hygiene, access to medication and basic dignity.
She said Dabrio-Marrero’s case was a reminder that behind every detention was a real person with a family, a spouse and a community that cares for them.
Lewis said the church had been working on immigration justice issues for months and remained committed to standing with Dabrio-Marrero and others in similar situations.
“We have this up-close and personal relationship with these men, and we have been working with partners and standing for justice across the nation for months …
“For every Allan, there are hundreds or thousands of people who are stuck,” she said, many of them without the same legal protections or support systems.
She said the congregation remains hopeful that Dabrio-Marrero will soon be back with his community in New York.
“We love these guys. They are our people, and we can’t wait to celebrate with them when Allan gets home – and we know he’s coming home.”
Court battle continues
The case has attracted widespread attention in the United States.
CBS News reported on last week’s hearing, citing Alexandra Rizio, supervising immigration attorney for Make the Road New York, who said Dabrio-Marrero had never been arrested, had no criminal history and had a record of attending immigration interviews and court dates.
The US Department of Homeland Security previously said ICE arrested Allan Michael Dabrio-Marrero, described as “an illegal alien from the Cayman Islands”, on 24 Nov. 2025. DHS said he entered the US on a tourist visa that required him to depart by 8 Sept. 2013, and that after he failed to appear for an immigration hearing, a judge issued a final order of removal in 2022.
“He received full due process,” DHS said.
Rizio said Dabrio-Marrero has an approved I-130 petition filed by his husband, establishing their bona fide marriage, which allows him to apply for a green card. She and Dabrio-Marrero’s husband have said Dabrio-Marrero was unaware of the immigration hearing DHS claims he missed.
They say he had meticulously filed paperwork and paid fees to continue his legal permissions to work while his well-documented asylum process continued.
Another hearing in the case is expected on 9 Feb. Dabrio-Marrero is expected to remain detained in Adams Correctional Center, Mississippi at least until then.
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“his visitor visa expired. ICE deemed him ‘illegal’ after a mix-up over court paperwork meant he missed a hearing, which was decided in his absence.”
Well he sounds illegal in the USA. We don’t like it when expats visas expire in Cayman. Cayman has some of the worlds strictest immigration and treatment of expats. What’s the big deal here? Is the guy not illegal in the U.S.? So basically he’s a criminal?
This story is a hard read and flip flops trying to make me feel bad for the guy but then the article goes on to infer hes an illegal criminal by having no valid visa in the U.S.
US 2013 Pending asylum was a poor choice and he is not qualified being a Caymanian.
I feel for Allen, but I am US born and lived 45 years in Cayman with status and have to say, the Cayman Islands immigration laws have always been non-flexible and stricter than the US immigration laws. My son overstayed his US student visa by one week and was red flagged for 7 years at US airports for questioning, which took less than 30 minutes to clear entry.
You admit that the story was hard to read, so I think you may have missed the part which stated that ” he had lived and worked in the US since 2013, was in ‘PENDING ASYLUM’ STATUS after his visitor visa expired”. Under US law, a person with pending asylum is lawfully present in the US. Once a proper asylum application (Form I-589) is filed and accepted, he is considered to be lawfully present while the asylum case is pending.
You may have also missed the part where he was taken into custody at his routine Green Card interview, which meant that he was doing the legal thing to obtain his status. This is also noted in the section that explained that he “has an approved I-130 petition filed by his husband, establishing their bona fide marriage, which allows him to apply for a green card”.
Finally, someone who overstays a visitor visa and then applies for asylum is not a criminal; overstaying a visa is a civil immigration violation, not a crime. Applying for asylum is legal under US law, and a person may apply for asylum even if they have overstayed their visa. Once the asylum application is filed and pending, which was the case here, the person is lawfully present during that period. The article in no way infers that the man is either illegal or a criminal.
Hope that helps.
I am a white American, my wife is naturalized American citizen, a Caymanian by birth but was born in Jamaica.
As we were getting on the plane the last time we flew to Cayman two US federal agents in full tactical gear and guns asked us a lot of questions about why we were going to Cayman, what’s our business is etc.
It was a very agressive line of questioning. I could tell if we did not answer one thing to their satisfaction, we would have been heading to an interrogation room.
Legally, we should have no problem but i can tell you we no longer want travel in or out of the US.
He should be entitled to a British passport, my advice is forget the U.S. and Trump and relocate in the U.K. where ICE only appears in the winter and is harmless.
This story doesn’t add up. Why would someone from Cayman claim “asylum” in the US? What was he claiming asylum from? Is he claiming people living in Cayman require asylum in the US? That’s what he is telling the US government with his asylum claim. Being married to an American grants him access to a spousal visa provided either his spouse or him can meet minimum financial obligations. Why not apply through that? Someone trying a similar claim inside of Cayman would not have been allowed to stay as long as he did and would have zero support from anyone mad at the US over this.
I am a US citizen and at one time an expat working in Cayman. I know just how strict the work permits are and visitor visas. With that being said I hate how ICE is detaining people and treating and killing even US citizens.
I feel bad for this young man but what I don’t understand is the request for Asylum status. Why is he seeking asylum from Cayman?
Am I missing something?
He was supposed to leave US in September of 2013 . He didn”t , his fault. He needs to be sent back to the Caymans.
Something doesn’t add up. The timing of the events is not included in the story. When did he apply for asylum? Why did he apply for asylum? When did he meet his spouse? When did they get married? All relevant questions – the lack of their mention suggests that someone is trying to scam the American immigration system. Try that here and very quickly you will be tossed on a plane and sent off the island.