Sofia Palacios was petrified. No one had come to ask for her side of the story as she sat inside a cell of an immigration detention center.
No one had asked her any questions before she was handcuffed and escorted into the building she had just been protesting outside of earlier that day.
“I thought my papers were going to get revoked,” Palacios, 25, said. “I not only thought that they were going to deport me, but I also thought, ‘After this, it’s going to come after my family.’ I was getting ready to say my goodbyes. I thought it was the end for me.”
She was arrested Saturday afternoon. Palacios had traveled with other people from Gainesville to protest outside of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Center in Baker County. She immigrated to the U.S. with her family from Argentina 18 years ago.
Hannah Gutman, 25, said it was a peaceful protest. The crowd of about 50 people chanted and made noise as loudly as possible. The protesters wanted the people inside of the center to hear them and know they were there to speak for them.
Later, as the protesters were leaving and walking to their cars, Gutman noticed a woman leave the building. The woman got into her car and started to leave the parking lot, honking at the protesters as she went.
The Alligator attempted to reach out to the woman via a phone number provided in the police report. A male voice answered and said The Alligator had the wrong number.
“We kind of create this path for her to go,” Palacios said. “She’s not really stopping her car or giving us a chance to get out of the way.”
The woman bumped into some of the protesters with her red Ford, according to witnesses. Palacios was hit in the leg and jumped back in surprise.
In the Baker County Sheriff’s Office lobby, officers were told protesters were surrounding a car in the parking lot.
Deputies saw about 10 to 15 people yelling at the driver, according to BCSO’s incident report. When the sheriffs walked to the car, one of the protesters started telling the others to back away.
When speaking with an officer, the woman pointed at Palacios and said she was the main person hitting her car. The officer arrested Palacios for assault and criminal mischief and began to escort her into the building.
Gutman, Palacios’ friend of 13 years, ran after them, asking officers if she could talk to Palacios. Gutman wasn’t able to speak with her, but Palacios managed to slip her phone to Gutman while she was being arrested.
“I was talking to officers and her parents on the phone,” Gutman said. “I turned around and one of the buckets we were using to make noise was on the ground full of money. I started crying right away.”
Most protesters left at that point, Gutman said, but the people still there donated more than $650, just in case Palacios needed money to post bond. More money was raised online and at a march until more than $2,000 was collected to help.
In the detention center, Palacios got the chance to call her parents. They weren’t going to sleep the night their daughter was in a cell. She was released around 10 a.m. the next day on her own recognizance.
The protest was organized by the Gainesville Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. The committee also started the fund for Palacios' bond and will be donating the $2,000 to Madres Sin Fronteras — a local Gainesville organization meant to help and protect the rights of immigrants — since she did not need to post bail.
“Unfortunately, we live in an era where anything could happen. It’s scary to think about,” Palacios said. “This country has the potential to be the great country that it claims to be, but not at this rate, not like this. That’s why I try to go to these protests. I may not have a loud voice, or I may not have much to say, but anything that I can say, I will say.”
Follow Jessica Curbelo on Twitter @jesscurbelo and contact her at jcurbelo@alligator.org.
