Picket signs and prayer outside so-called ‘Speedway Slammer’ days before first ICE detainees arrive

MIAMI COUNTY, Ind. -- Days before the first group of detained immigrants was set to arrive at the Miami Correctional Facility, faith leaders and community members gathered outside the prison, now dubbed the “Speedway Slammer,” to protest its transformation into an immigration detention center.

The peaceful protest, organized primarily by the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and Northern Indiana, took the form of a prayer vigil Monday afternoon. Participants walked silently along U.S. Route 31, near the Indiana Department of Correction facility, which is slated to house up to 1,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees under a new federal-state partnership.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrangement in August, and the Indiana State Budget Committee approved $15 million for the project on Sept. 17. The deal makes Indiana the second state to partner with DHS in this way; the first such partnership, dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” is located in Florida.

“This is not just a political decision. It is a moral crisis. It is an act of inhumanity and injustice,” said Bishop Tracy Smith Malone, resident bishop of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church, addressing the crowd. “Jesus Christ calls us to welcome the stranger, to love our neighbor, and to set the captives free.”

Other speakers voiced concern about the facility’s impact on immigrants and their families. “There are real criminals, but that’s not who they’re going to lock up in this so-called ‘Speedway Slammer,’” said Jim Armstrong, who attended the vigil with his wife, Rebecca McElfresh, both of Westfield. “It’s a terrible waste of people’s tax dollars to lock up folks who are not criminals on civil immigration violations.”

Dan Gangler of Indianapolis agreed, saying, “People are being swept up by ICE who aren’t criminals. What’s going on here is not legitimate. It goes against all Christian principles about immigrants and welcoming immigrants.”

Sarah Knapp, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church from Indianapolis, said, “I’m very concerned this is happening in our backyard. It’s inhumane. We don’t support this total travesty of justice. People being taken and separated from their families—it’s not the way to do it.”

Reverend Fatima Yakubu-Madus of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, herself an immigrant, shared her own fears. “My children tell me never to leave home without my documentation. And here, I carry them in this bag,” she said, referencing her immigration papers.

Despite Indiana Governor Mike Braun’s full support for the new detention initiative, those gathered at the vigil said they would continue to pray for dignity, not detention. As they offered prayers for those facing harsh conditions, neglect, or mistreatment, the group hoped their message of compassion would be heard far beyond the prison walls.