Over the past 47 weeks, thousands of people have gathered outside of Florida’s controversial immigrant detention center, dubbed ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ for Freedom Vigils every Sunday, some of which garnered more than 300 participants, to call for the release of detainees.
Getting 300 people out to Alligator Alcatraz, which is over an hour from the nearest populated city, once is a feat, but weekly was unimaginable until the Freedom Vigils.
“The people that come out here are committed,” Noelle Damico, the organizer behind the Freedom Vigils, said. “It’s about our commitment as ordinary people, not to just think that it’s wrong, but to actually do something about it.”
Sunday, June 21, 75 people gathered for the last time as detainees were relocated to other detention facilities across the country.
The Department of Homeland Security announced the relocation of all Alligator Alcatraz detainees last week, citing safety concerns as hurricane season ramps up, even though the facility operated throughout the 2025 hurricane season.
This comes after the facility’s $1 million-a-day operations were revealed, and as Florida continues to wait for its $608 million reimbursement from the federal government for a year of operations.
The department had not officially announced whether the facility will permanently close, but on Monday, CBS News published reports that vendors were officially told Alligator Alcatraz was permanently closing and ordered to demobilize.
Damico, who helped the New York-based advocacy group Worker’s Circle plan the vigils, said the closure is a victory for the organization.
“This shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz is a victory of we, the people,” she said. “We, the people, shut it down, and now it’s a lesson for others elsewhere, and a reminder that really the power of the people is at the heart of our nation.”
Damico has been flying down to Florida from New York almost every Sunday to attend the vigils, and says the closure of “this symbol of cruelty” has a broader significance for immigrant advocacy efforts across the state and country.
“This does not spell anything good for the Trump administration or the DeSantis administration,” she said. “We’re going to do this everywhere. We are not giving up. We are moving forward, and w’ere moving forward more powerful than before.”
However, the Worker’s Circle’s efforts surrounding Alligator Alcatraz aren’t over, Damico said. Sanctuary of the South, an immigration legal services organization, will continue providing legal services to detainees who were relocated to other facilities, and their families, while Worker’s Circle will work to hold the government accountable.
“This was founded on corruption and lawlessness,” she said. “We’re going to hold the Trump administration, the DeSantis administration, and everybody who profited from this accountable because a grave harm has been done.”
Reach reporter Alexa Ryan by emailing her at Alexa.Ryan@naplesnews.com.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Last Freedom Vigil held at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ a year after opening
Reporting by Alexa Ryan, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alexa Ryan, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
