Cuban Raft Survivor Breaks Silence on Alligator Alcatraz Beating: "I Still Have Nightmares"

Rigoberto Rodríguez Arce, a Cuban raft survivor who claims he was beaten while handcuffed at the now-closed Alligator Alcatraz detention facility, has spoken publicly for the first time. In an interview aired on Thursday with reporter Olivia Jean from WINK Investigates, Arce shared his harrowing experience.

At 42, Arce arrived in the United States in 2007 after enduring roughly two weeks at sea on a raft. "I came here like any immigrant, fleeing a dictatorship. My country is a dictatorship. I came on a raft and spent about two weeks at sea," he recounted.

A father to two American citizens, Arce was working as a cook in Southwest Florida when he was detained in December 2025 during a traffic stop in Immokalee for driving with a suspended license.

Following his arrest, he was taken to Alligator Alcatraz, where he alleges he was assaulted in January 2026 by two guards while restrained with handcuffs, a waist chain, and leg shackles.

"They started hitting me, punched me in the face, smashed my nose against the ground, and kept hitting," he described.

Arce claims that guard Stephen Jordan Trejos grabbed his injured hand—already fractured from a prior incident with another detainee—and lifted him off the bench. Then, according to Arce, guard Andre Seenaraine continued the assault with assistance from a third officer. "They almost killed me. Three officers attacked me while I was handcuffed and immobilized," he stated.

In an attempt to end the beating, Arce pretended to lose consciousness. "If I hadn't faked fainting, they would have kept beating me. Who knows, maybe until I was dead," he expressed.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) report, accessed by WINK Investigates, reviewed surveillance footage from the facility. It confirmed that Trejos struck Arce on the side of his head while removing him from the waiting area, and Seenaraine hit him on the back of the head and delivered two more punches during the transfer.

The center's management's claims of spitting and biting by Arce, which were used to justify the guards' actions, were termed "inconclusive" by the FDLE.

After the incident, Arce was relocated to a detention center in Texas without receiving the follow-up surgery recommended by Miami's Kendall Hospital doctors for his fractured hand. His attorney, Yaritssa Plasencia, reported that he arrived "still covered in blood, with a bandaged hand and a black eye."

Arce says the physical and psychological scars prevent him from returning to his job as a cook. "I still have nightmares. Every time I think of those officers hitting me, I wake up in a panic," he admitted.

Both former guards were arrested months later—Trejos in June and Seenaraine in August—and charged with misdemeanor battery in Collier County. They each posted a $1,000 bail and pleaded not guilty. Trejos' defense filed a motion to dismiss the charge, claiming self-defense, alleging that Arce spat at him and that he responded with a single "compliance strike." Judge Deborah Cunningham denied the prosecution's attempt to block this argument.

Arce's case highlights the ongoing immigration limbo faced by thousands of Cubans in the United States: Cuba refused to accept him as a deportee, leaving him in Miami with an electronic monitor, requiring regular check-ins with authorities, and applying for a work permit.

Unable to be deported because the Cuban regime refuses to accept him, he also lacks permanent immigration status. Regarding his homeland, he was unequivocal: "My country is a dictatorship."

The case is set to return to court on November 18, with a pretrial conference scheduled for Trejos, and a self-defense immunity hearing set for January 29, 2027.

Rigoberto's case is part of an ever-evolving immigration landscape. Keep up with all the latest on detentions, detention centers, and immigrant rights in our U.S. Immigration section.