{"id":1249,"date":"2026-06-02T04:02:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1249"},"modified":"2026-06-02T04:02:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T04:02:29","slug":"trump-sends-a-message-to-man-who-won-his-freedom-from-alligator-alcatraz-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1249","title":{"rendered":"Trump sends a message to man who won his freedom from Alligator Alcatraz"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In the days since she helped secure her father\u2019s release from Alligator Alcatraz, Arianne Betancourt received a number of congratulatory messages from friends, family, and even strangers.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1248\">Three teens thrown from runaway boat in Florida Keys, sheriff\u2019s office says<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, she received a message from someone she never expected she\u2019d hear from: President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWelcome home to Justo Betancourt, whose Daughter, Arianne, fought very hard to free her father from Alligator Alcatraz,\u201d Trump said on social media. \u201cEnjoy your Freedom together!!! President DONALD J TRUMP\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Arianne Betancourt, 33, told the Miami Herald Monday that she was not sure if the president\u2019s message was a \u201ccompliment or a threat.\u201d She said she learned of the president\u2019s message after a friend texted her about it. She thought the friend was joking.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe he\u2019s having a change of heart on his immigration policies but we also know that the Cuban vote is important to him. So you know it could just be political propaganda,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m as confused as the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Betancourt said her family does not know how to feel about the message because of what has happened to other immigrant families whose stories have taken the national spotlight, including that of Kilmar Armando \u00c1brego Garc\u00eda, an immigrant from Maryland whom the Trump administration has been fighting to deport.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is one of those \u2018when hell freezes over\u2019 moments,\u201d she said. \u201cThe guy who\u2019s been yelling, deport them all this whole time, is saying, \u2018Oh, welcome home.\u2019 Like, this is like a plot twist within a plot twist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The White House did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Her father, Justo Betancourt, an immigrant from Cuba, was detained in October 2025 during a routine immigration check-in at Mirimar. He entered the United States in 1990. Court records show that in 2016, he was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm. An immigration judge ordered his removal in 2020.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Since October, he was transferred to and from the Everglades detention center twice before his release in early May, following a Fort Myers federal judge\u2019s grant of his habeas corpus petition and an order for his release.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1246\">Man shot in the ear at Broward gas station, and cops find suspect in orange car<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The president\u2019s reaction to the release of Justo Betancourt comes as the state and federal government have signaled the possible closure of the detention center. When the first-of-its-kind immigration detention facility opened, Gov. Ron DeSantis walked Trump and then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem through the bunk beds in chain-link cages at the facility.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Trump had described the facility as \u201cso professional. So well done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Betancourt, a community advocate with the social justice organization Workers Circle, had been fighting for her father\u2019s release, appearing weekly since November as part of a freedom-vigil group that has gathered outside Alligator Alcatraz for the past 44 weeks.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Workers Circle partnered with Sanctuary of the South, an immigration legal services organization, to provide a no cost legal representation to detainees at the Everglades detention facility who have been unable to secure a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Noelle Damico, director of social justice at the Workers Circle, said that, in conversations with families of detainees held at the detention center, the organization learned there was a gap in detainees\u2019 ability to afford a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe recognized that what was desperately needed was legal counsel for so many immigrants who were detained and could not afford counsel,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Since its launch last week, more than 40 detainees and their families have reached out to the program for assistance.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Betancourt, despite not knowing what Trump\u2019s intentions are, is \u201cgrateful that my story and the stories of so many others in Alligator Alcatraz are finally getting the recognition that they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re bringing more attention, you know, to the inhumanity and the cruelty and just the reality of what is Alligator Alcatraz.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=1245\">Trump sends a message to man who won his freedom from Alligator Alcatraz<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump sends welcome home message to former Alligator Alcatraz detainee after his release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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