‘Shut it down.’ Every Sunday, they come to pray outside Alligator Alcatraz

As thunder boomed on an ominous Sunday evening just outside of Alligator Alcatraz, over 200 people — most of them reverends, rabbis, pastors and people of assorted faiths — chanted in unison, “Shut it down” and “This is a preserve, not a prison” as cars and trucks zoomed behind them on Tamiami Trail.

Clergy alternated in leading prayers and shared personal stories about their connections to immigrants. People in the crowd held signs quoting scripture. Some wore religious vestments. Many speakers denounced what they view as inhumane treatment of the people behind the gates of what used to be isolated airstrip near the Big Cypress National Preserve.

For the third Sunday in a row, a crowd gathered for what’s become a growing weekly protest outside the controversial immigration detention cen