PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The Pinellas-Hillsborough Interfaith Coalition, a branch of the Florida Interfaith Coalition, along with other groups, is calling for changes to immigration enforcement across the state and the nation.
The groups have been holding weekly vigils to bring attention to their cause.
Reverend Wesley Snedeker of the Church of the Isles, United Church of Christ, is one of the organizers of the weekly vigils. He said the coalition’s most pressing request is to provide pastoral care to those being detained at Alligator Alcatraz, the migrant detention center near the Everglades.
“We’re seeing the separation of families,” Snedeker said.
“There have been reports of human rights abuses in state detention facilities, especially the one that has been called Alligator Alcatraz,” he said.
In mid-July, some migrants told The Associated Press they were being held in what they described as “zoo cages,” adding they were given toilets that would not flush, along with insects surrounding them and worms in their food. Shortly after, Florida Division of Emergency Management officials said those claims were false.
Protesters such as Brandt Robinson are also calling for an end to the detainment and deportation of non-violent criminals.
“The vast majority of undocumented immigrants to our country are doing the kinds of things that, frankly, a lot of us American citizens don’t want to do for a living,” Robinson said. “If you’re harvesting fruits and vegetables, if you’re processing our nation’s meat supplies, if you’re building the homes.”
Snedeker added to Robinson’s concern.
“Many of those folks end up living here in the United States as island citizens, working and paying taxes, who don’t have run-ins with law enforcement,” Snedeker said. “And these are some of the same folks that we’re seeing, who are detained.”
Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, the White House has said entering the country illegally is the initial crime.
“If you are an individual, a foreign national who illegally enters the United States of America, you are by definition a criminal, so therefore you are subject to deportation,” a White House official said.
Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins has also been open about his stance on assisting the federal government.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have empathy,” Collins said. “That means we have to follow through it, which we told them we were going to do. People ran on the ballot to solve these problems, and if they aren’t putting those actions, those words into action, what are they doing?”
Leaders say the vigils will be held every Sunday from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Pinellas County Justice Center.