After more than 6 months in ICE detention — including 4.5 months inside the detention camp known as “Alligator Alcatraz” — my father has finally been released, but the fight for his survival is far from over.
My name is Arianne Betancourt, and for months I have dedicated my life to advocating publicly and online for my father and countless other detained families enduring unimaginable cruelty inside this system. I left my job and poured everything into raising awareness, organizing, speaking out, connecting families, documenting abuse, and fighting to bring attention to the inhumane conditions detainees were facing behind closed doors.
My father entered detention already medically vulnerable: diabetic, struggling with severe neuropathy, heart and blood pressure complications, and longstanding mental health conditions. Instead of receiving care, he endured months of neglect, suffering, instability, and dehumanization.
While detained, my father suffered a stroke and never received the proper medical care or rehabilitation he desperately needed. He was denied adequate treatment, moved between facilities, and forced to survive under conditions no human being should ever endure. By the time he was released, his glucose levels were nearly 500 — even after being administered insulin. His body is exhausted, weakened, and traumatized from what he survived.
Now begins the long road toward recovery.
Our family is raising funds to help cover urgent medical expenses, medications, neurological care, diabetes treatment, rehabilitation, transportation, housing stability, food, and the basic support needed to help my father regain his strength and dignity after months of suffering.
This experience has changed our family forever, but we are determined to help him heal surrounded by love, safety, and community support.
If you can donate, share, or uplift this campaign in any way, it would mean everything to us. Thank you for standing with my father, our family, and every human being fighting to survive a system built to break them.