A U.S. Citizen Held His Phone to the Mic. His Wife Was Calling from Inside ICE Detention.

Gabriela Sousa called her own rally from Baker County Detention Center. Her husband Brandon Garrison called it what it is: a system designed to make people give up and leave.

Brandon Garrison speaking at the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance’s rally outside Jacksonville’s federal courthouse demanding the release of his wife, Gabriela Sousa. March 20, 2026. Photo by Logan Johnson.

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Last Friday evening, city residents and organizers with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance (JIRA) gathered outside Jacksonville’s federal courthouse to demand the release of Venezuelan immigrant Gabriela Sousa.

Sousa’s husband, Brandon Garrison held his cellphone to the mic at the center of the rally. On the other line was none other than his wife – calling from the inside of Baker County Detention Center – or what Florida Gov. Desantis infamously dubbed ‘deportation depot.’

“I wanna say thank you, really,” said Sousa to the crowd, choking up over the phone.