My brother doesn't like work from home either, and I just don't get it. Working from home has been great for my mental health.
I'm not stressed all the time; I don't have to worry about things unrelated to my job, like traffic, or what I'll do for lunch. I don't have to sit in the cheapest desk chair money can buy, and use a tiny Dell monitor, instead I relax at home, at my desk I already have anyway.
But I've never really seen work as a place to socialize to begin with. It's the one place where I can't control who is around me, and as a result, there are often people I dislike. I much prefer they remain icons, instead of whole people I have to make small talk with. Then, if there are coworkers I like, I can reach out to them individually
So, just in case it wasn't crystal clear enough what this is, one of the prisoners in the article asked if he could be sent back to Venezuela, and they refused.