SURE and Pueblo Unido team up in support of ‘Disappeared in America’.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: October 31, 2025
Host: A religious coalition in Sarasota this Sunday is joining a national action in support of immigrants called “Disappeared in America”. Ramon Lopez tells us what it’s all about.
There have been five prayer vigils at Payne Park led by local clerics. Photo: Ramon Lopez
Ramon Lopez: Since the end of August, there have been nine 5 p.m. Sunday Prayer Vigils at the Payne Pavilion in Payne Park, near downtown Sarasota.
An average of 40 pastors, priests, reverends and other spiritual people have gathered there to pray and protest President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and Florida’s operation of detention centers for undocumented immigrants rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents with help from Florida law enforcement.
Religious groups have been among the first to reject the treatment immigrants are receiving. The weekly prayer vigils are organized by the social justice organization SURE. That’s short for Sarasota United for Responsibility and Equity.
Signs read “Think while it’s still legal” and “Love all our neighbors” Photo by Ramon Lopez
But this Sunday, SURE has teamed up with the political action group El Pueblo Unido Tampa Bay to support the national movement dubbed Disappeared in America Weekend of Action. So, a bigger, more vocal crowd of praying protestors is expected to show up for the prayer/freedom vigil at Payne Park.
More than 140 prayer vigils and related events with thousands attending are scheduled nationwide Saturday and Sunday. Other protests will take place in Orlando, Tallahassee, Ochopee—where Alligator Alcatraz is—and Pompano Beach, home to an ICE detention facility.
Aside from the various prayer vigils on Sunday, demonstrations will take place at Home Depot stores, where ICE agents have stalked construction workers.
Photo by Ramon Lopez
Reverend Alex Evangelista, the outspoken pastor of Pine Shores Presbyterian Church, will speak out at the Sarasota rally on the need for transparent independent oversight of detention facilities and humane treatment and legal protection.
The Salvadorean immigrant will also demand an end to detention and deportation of non-violent, law-abiding community members.
The organizers will read the names of the 25 individuals who have died in ICE detention around the country.
Michelle Jewell, SURE’s executive director and lead organizer, said the number of people attending the Payne Park prayer vigil continues to grow, including Jews, Catholics, Protestants and even atheists.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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