Not Florida’s unrelenting sun, swarms of mosquitoes nor the threats of storms chase the religious leaders away from outside the controversial detention camp in the heart of the Everglades.
At 5 p.m. each Sunday for the past several weeks, the faithful gather along the rural highway in Ochopee and pray.
Collectively they may represent multiple faiths but they are unified in a single belief that the detainees deserve to be treated as human beings regardless of the paperwork they may or may not have to be in this country.
Pastor Tony Fisher of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples is one of the religious leaders heading the charge.
The first interfaith vigil outside Alligator Alcatraz drew some 60 people. The numbers of people coming to this vast rural landscape to pray on a Sunday has swelled to upwards of 200.
“I think, as people of faith who believe in the Golden Rule across all traditions, we don't think that the folks who are being detained are really being treated the way we would want to be treated. So that is why we're there,” Fisher said. “…So we're looking for truth. We're looking for human dignity.”
The media has not been allowed inside the detention center, but elected state and federal officials have been inside and some say the immigrants are kept in sweltering cages with poorly functioning toilets.
Such reports make Fisher bristle and say that is the reasoning behind the weekly vigils.
“The treatment is just not humane,” he said. “And that is what we are responding to as people of faith.”
A judge last week ordered the state to begin shutting down its operations over the next 60 days. What happens remains to be seen as the state and federal government are both appealing the judge’s decision.
Regardless, Fisher said the religious leaders intend to keep praying outside the facility for the foreseeable future.
In addition to faith leaders like Fisher from Southwest Florida, other religious leaders hail from Coral Gables, Miami, Tampa, St. Peterburg and Orlando. The various regions have been taking turns at organizing the weekly vigils.
The Sunday vigils take place at 54575 Tamiami Trail East.
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