Demonstrators gather together for an immigration vigil. Photo by Leah Burdick
Interfaith communities held a prayer for immigrants on Sunday before demonstrating on the sidewalks outside the Pinellas County Courthouse. This was in honor of the Disappeared in America National Weekend of Action.
Over 60 demonstrators gathered together to pray for immigrants being deported or held in detention centers.
Ryan Brown is the wife of Ali who was deported in 2017. He was denied citizenship after their marriage in 2010 because of his asylum case back in 1999.
His case went back and forth in immigration court for decades. Brown said during his time in the U.S. he had legal work authorization, pay taxes, and had a legal drivers’ license.
“He has been gone for 8 years in September and we are working with the immigration law clinic to file waivers to allow his return to the United States. So we are just hoping to make progress on that soon,” she said.
Brown said she attended Sunday’s event to support other families affected by deportation.
She said she still has minimal contact with her husband. He is in a mining area that is not safe, little electricity and water. She said they will go weeks at a time without hearing from him.
“The system is broken. The legal system is broken. People are set up to fail the way things currently run. I am a pretty educated person myself. I have a Master’s degree and I have tried to navigate this system with him for 15 years,” she said.
She said nothing will change until there is an immigration reform to help secure the borders, and provide better assitance for immigrants trying to legally become citizens.
During the prayers, Brown became emotional as she held back tears, holding a sign of her husband.
Reverend Wesley Snedeker is the pastor of the Church of the Isles United Church of Christ of Indian Rock Beach.
“What we want to see is the violations of the human and civil rights of migrants stopped. We want to stop seeing people who are being detained without cause,” Snedeker said. “People who are many people who are trying to follow the process the right way, being detained in immigration courts or outside immigration courts.”
Snedeker also said he wants to ask the system to allow faith communities inside these detention centers to assist with the religious needs not provided for the immigrants.
After the prayers, people gathered on the sidewalks holding signs about ending ICE and asking for immigration reforms.