JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A series of rallies and gatherings this week outside the Federal Courthouse in Jacksonville aims to draw attention to a Venezuelan woman’s months-long immigration case.
At James Weldon Johnson Park on Wednesday, supporters called for Gabriela Sousa, a Venezuelan woman married to a U.S. citizen, to be released from the Baker County facility where she has been held without a bond hearing for nearly six months.
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According to her supporters, Sousa, who has no criminal record, entered the U.S. legally in 2023 through the federal humanitarian parole program for Venezuelans fleeing crisis.
She built a life in the U.S. and married Brandon Garrison, a U.S. citizen, in April 2025. Now the two are fighting to keep her from being deported.
Garrison told News4JAX it all started in October 2025, when Sousa and Garrison were detained after a domestic dispute.
No charges were filed, and Garrison was then released. But he said Sousa remained in custody and then was transferred to multiple locations across the U.S. before ending up at the Baker County facility in Macclenny.
The couple has been separated since the dispute in October, communicating only through limited phone calls.
“I’m mentally drained, you know? I can’t work. I can’t focus,” Garrison said. “I’ve been consumed with everything immigration, trying to learn what I can, trying to figure out every opportunity and what I can do to try to help get her out.”
Garrison said they had hoped their marriage would help move things forward in the immigration process, but the domestic dispute, despite no charges being filed, complicated things for the couple.
He said that if Sousa is forced to leave the United States, he will join her.
“I believe that criminals -- people that came illegally and criminals -- should be deported,” Garrison said. “But my wife’s no criminal, and she doesn’t deserve this. She just wants to live the American dream, you know? That’s what she came here for.”
Sousa’s attorneys are challenging her detention in federal court, arguing ICE has misclassified her in a way that wrongfully strips her of the right to appear before a judge.
Supporters say they will not stop until Sousa’s case is heard in court.
“We demand Gabriela be released so she can fight her case from home, not from a cage,” Garrison said in a news release.
Further gatherings at the Federal Courthouse are planned for 2 p.m. Wednesday, 8 a.m. Friday and 12 p.m. Friday.
A candlelight vigil is being held at 6 p.m. Wednesday outside the Baker County jail.
For more information or to support Sousa’s cause, click here.