Barber behind the wire: SWFL barber who worked at Alligator Alcatraz shares his story

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — A Southwest Florida barber answered a job posting he found while scrolling online and didn't realize where it would take him until he saw the signs at the checkpoint.

For six months, he was the barber at 'Alligator Alcatraz,' cutting an estimated 40 to 80 heads a day inside the wire. Now, with the facility closed, he's telling his story for the first time — what he feels the headlines got right, what they got wrong, and why he'd do it all again.

RELATED: Gov. Ron DeSantis announces winding down of 'Alligator Alcatraz'

Haircuts in Josh's barber chair come with conversation. That's how WINK News photojournalist Tanner Godown first learned about Josh's last gig.

"Did they have like cameras in the room when you were cutting?" Godown asked.

"Yeah. Every single section had cameras," Josh said.

He spent six months in a place others had only heard about — Alligator Alcatraz. The temporary immigration detention facility deep in the Everglades was responsible for housing and deporting thousands of undocumented immigrants. 

Josh was hired to cut their hair. He agreed to share the stories as long as WINK News didn't share his last name.

"I was bored scrolling through Indeed, and I've seen [the job], but I didn't realize it was where it was until I got there," Josh said. "When I pulled up the checkpoint one, I was so nervous. Like I'm like shaking, trying to give the guy my ID."

RELATED: WINK Exclusive: Take a look inside "Alligator Alcatraz"

"It kind of felt like a movie, just like, cause like people with firearms all over the place. It was crazy," he said.

Every day, 40 to 80 detainees sat in his chair. Josh estimated he had cut the hair of 1,500 detainees.

"There was no time limit, but I spent less than five minutes for a haircut. It was just in and out," he said.

Each person had their own story. One detainee hadn't seen his face in a mirror in a while.

"I just happened to have my mirror, and I just showed him, and he started crying and kind of choked me up a little bit," Josh said.

Some conversations with detainees cut harder than others. Josh says one man sat down in his chair, and told him he had just gotten out of prison for killing somebody.

"While I was cutting his hair, he started opening up to me, and that's when I found out that he had just gotten out of prison for killing somebody, and he was just mad because he's just spent 25 years, and now he's at Alligator Alcatraz," Josh said.

As a staffer, Josh lived at the facility from late September to about March. He said staff lived in trailers with about 12 people per trailer, but each person had their own private space.

When asked what he thought the public's biggest misconception about the facility was, Josh pointed to how Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) staff handled a cold spell during winter.

"For instance, when we had that cold spell during winter, it was supposed to drop. They made sure they turn the heaters on," Josh said. "FDEM, they did a good job. They flew in jackets for them that that night... Any issues, grievances, they made sure, FDEM did make sure they tried to accommodate them best as they could."

However, Josh says treatment of the detainees varied depending on the correctional officer. 

"Certain COs [correctional officers] are a******s. Certain COs treat them like human beings, but there was always that one. You know, that were being disrespectful to them," Josh said.

Haircuts are part of Josh's routine, but for hundreds in his chair, it meant something more. 

"It felt like they were relieved because it's the only thing they could do to get done that felt like some kind of freedom," Josh said.

Hair can be brushed away. The memories of the detention facility and how it changed him aren't so easy to shake.

"It took the joy out of it more than anything," Josh said. "Just hearing their life stories... It was a lot to take in," he said.

But if given the chance to do it again, Josh said he would. He would do it again because it made him feel good knowing he was helping somebody feel free.

"Don't take life for granted because you never know where you end up," Josh said. "So, life could change, like you never know." 

For further and latest WINK News coverage on 'Alligator Alcatraz' - click here.