OCHOPEE, Fla. (WSVN) — Dozens of people came together to hold an interfaith prayer vigil outside the gates of the detention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” for a second week in a row.
Faith leaders from various denominations came from across the state to pray for the detainees being held inside the facility. Many are calling for the detention center to be shut down entirely.
Among those in attendance was the Rev. Laurie Hafner with the Coral Gables United Church of Christ.
“This issue transcends religion, I think it transcends politics, it transcends gender and sexual orientation. It transcends all of us, because the greater good is to free people from the pain that that they are experiencing, the fear that they are facing,” she said, “and so, for all of us to come together from very different places, but to say that this is important to us, I think speaks volumes about who we are.”
The prayer vigil follows a similar one held Aug. 3 outside “Alligator Alley,” which was built in eight days in the heart of the Everglades, surrounded by swamplands.
Critics of the facility condemned the conditions, describing them as deplorable.
During the vigil, a detainee spoke to attendees on the phone in Spanish.
“My name is Alex Reyes. The conditions right now are very bad,” he said.
Reyes went on to describe the food at the detention center.
“We didn’t have lunch until 3 in the afternoon, and we’re always eating the same sandwiches and cold food,” he said.
The woman who answered the call, Sonia Bichara, said her 63-year-old fiancé is also a detainee at “Alligator Alcatraz.”
Bichara said her fiancé went to self-report in Miramar and has been held for a month and three days.
“He says it’s literally a dog cage,” she said. “He tried to commit suicide on July 27th, and he was in the clinic for three days, and then he went on to a hunger strike.”
Bichara said she’s not sure what’s next.
“They just picked him up, and I don’t know where they’re taking him,” she said.
Sunday’s vigil comes just days after a federal judge ordered a two-week halt on construction at the facility on Thursday.
Environmentalists and members of the Miccosukee Tribe filed a lawsuit claiming the state and federal government bypassed required environmental impact studies.
Bichara said she came to the vigil to share what she’s hearing from the inside.
“They’re not animals, they’re human beings, and everyone has the right to have a fair trial,” she said.
While construction is currently at a standstill, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said operations are ongoing, and deportations continue to be processed.
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