PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Palm Beach restaurant manager is speaking out about his experience inside Florida's state-run immigration detention facility, just one day after his unexpected release following 12 days in custody.
WATCH: Family credits community outcry for Gonzalez's release
Jose Gonzalez was released from the facility known as "Alligator Alcatraz" on Monday, returning to his family in West Palm Beach. His release came one day after the community gathered at BiCE restaurant in Palm Beach, where Gonzalez works as general manager, to rally for his freedom.
"Thank God for being home," Gonzalez said. "The whole beautiful community stand [sic] up for me, and I just can't thank [them] enough. I have no words," Gonzalez said.
The traffic stop that changed everything
Gonzalez said he was on a supply run with his nephew earlier this month when they were pulled over by law enforcement in West Palm Beach.
"And they told me that I get stopped because the, uh, window tint," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez has been in the United States since 1989, has a work permit and a valid driver's license. His immigration case is still pending.
"Then the next question he asked me [was], where are we from? I said we're from Mexico," Gonzalez said. "He went back to his car and came back and put the handcuffs for us."
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Gonzalez recalled telling his nephew to remain calm and obey the officers' orders.
"I don't know what's next, but I know that we're gonna be in detention for a few days," he added.
Life inside the detention facility
From there, Gonzalez says he focused on doing what he was told.
"I read the Bible. I read—and talk to other people that are there," Gonzalez said.
He explained that detainees at Alligator Alcatraz were separated into groups: one in red uniforms, which Gonzalez perceived to be those with criminal backgrounds or on final deportation orders. Gonzalez's group wore orange.
"They're like, hardwork [sic] people and they have their families here or back home and they all—they all suffer," Gonzalez said. "People talking, 'Oh, my little boy's birthday tomorrow and I cannot be there.' That breaks my heart."
Asked about the conditions inside the detention facility, Gonzalez described basic accommodations.
"I mean, they don't have my favorite food there," Gonzalez said.
He said he was fed three times a day, the air and the showers were cold, and while he was offered paperwork to self-deport, he didn't feel coerced.
Corroborating allegations of punishment cages
Gonzalez also corroborated an allegation that appeared in a report by Amnesty International: a two-by-two outdoor cage where people were placed for hours as a form of punishment.
"I see them, yeah. I think, if you misbehave, you don't, you know—you gotta have some free time outside on those boxes," Gonzalez said. "I thank God I didn't have the experience."
Sleep was hard to come by in detention, Gonzalez said. That's what he was trying to do when a guard approached him Monday evening.
"When I heard my name and someone knocked me and, 'Oh, you need—you need to go.' They go, 'Oh, just grab your personal stuff. You need to go,'" Gonzalez said.
He said he was driven "somewhere" in a white van, where his brother picked him up.
Looking forward
Now, Gonzalez hopes he can rest easier, surrounded by a family and community that loves him, telling WPTV he is excited to return to work.
"I can't wait to see all my people from work and all my beautiful customers," Gonzalez said.
We are still working to understand exactly what led to Gonzalez's release, though he and his family credit the community outcry following his detention. Gonzalez says his 23-year-old nephew is currently detained in Krome in Miami, but has signed papers for his deportation to Mexico.
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