A successful, and undocumented, Irishman living in New York was taken away at gunpoint after his longtime romantic partner called ICE to the couple’s Tribeca triplex.

Eight officers burst into the condominium after the man’s boyfriend unlocked the doors from a remote location; he’d told ICE that his partner was an undocumented meth dealer.

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Patrick Moran had been living in the U.S. for decades, and enjoyed a successful career in historic preservation, counting Carnegie Hall, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Federal Reserve among his clients. He earned more than $300,000 a year and was the “primary financial provider” for the pair, according to a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.

But a renovation project at the pricey downtown condo, estimated to be worth more than $4 million, turned out to be the beginning of the end of their romantic relationship, and Moran’s time in the U.S., The Independent reports.

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Moran self-deported to Ireland in November after a month-long nightmare odyssey through multiple ICE detention centers following the vindictive raid.

Now he’s suing his boyfriend of 20 years, Nicholas Kjos, a former cruise ship dancer, over what Moran calls a plot “intended to exploit his immigration status,” with a goal to “wrongfully obtain sole control, ownership and possession” of all of the couple’s property.

The relationship had been heading downhill for a while, Moran said.

With the cost of renovations to the condo spiraling, Kjos and Moran were arguing constantly, according to Moran. There were indications in those fights of what was to come, he added.

At one point, Kjos called Moran a “f*cking immigrant” and threatened to call ICE to have him deported, according to the lawsuit. At the time, Moran credited the outburst to “stress” over the condo project dragging on for four years. Moran “continued to believe in the relationship,” the court filing says.

It couldn’t be salvaged. Eventually, the pair agreed to sell the condo when renovations were complete, split all their assets, and part ways.

But Kjos had an incentive to push Moran out of the picture: given Moran’s undocumented status, all of the couple’s major assets were in Kjos’ name.

He made his move on Halloween.

“On the morning of October 31, 2025, [Kjos] remotely unlocked the North Moore property door via his Control4… phone app, allowing eight armed ICE officers to enter and detain [Moran],” the complaint states. “The officers, at the… permission of [Moran], searched the apartment and found no contraband or evidence of drugs. When the search was completed and [Moran] was removed from the apartment, [Kjos], through the use of his Control4 app, locked the door behind them.”

Moran was taken into custody at gunpoint and forced out of the apartment in a T-shirt and sweatpants, he said. He asked to change into something more appropriate and to get his keys, but ICE officers refused.

“It’s a situation where I feel that ICE was weaponized against him,” Moran’s attorney, Andreas Vasilatos, said. “Almost like how the Mafia just whacks a guy [they don’t want around anymore]. But here, instead of whacking the guy, it’s, ‘I’m gonna call ICE.’”

“I wasn’t angry,” Moran recalled. “It was just sad. I was in a relationship for 20 years with this person, and as far as I was concerned, there wasn’t going to be another person.”

In his lawsuit, Moran is seeking half of the former couple’s joint assets through a legal remedy known as a constructive trust; the court could declare Kjos to be wrongfully holding property belonging to Moran, and force its return to deny Kjos being “unjustly enriched.”

Kjos currently has full possession of the Tribeca condo, along with the couple’s dog.

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