The Workers Circle and Sanctuary of the South Celebrate Legal Victory While Vowing to Continue Fight for Everyone Still Detained
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2026
Media Contact: The TASC Group
Email: workerscircle@thetascgroup.com, 347-901-9352
FEDERAL JUDGES ORDER RELEASE OF MEN FORMERLY DETAINED AT ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ
The Workers Circle and Sanctuary of the South Celebrate Legal Victory While Vowing to Continue Fight for Everyone Still Detained
Manuel* and Paul* were recently detained at Alligator Alcatraz, surviving brutal and inhumane conditions. Through the new Freedom Advocates Program, both were able to file petitions for habeas corpus to request release from unlawful detention. After filing these, ICE moved both Manuel and Paul out of the facility, taking Manuel to Jena, Louisiana and Paul to Miami, FL. Despite these transfers, Florida district courts found that they must be released.
Manuel and Paul were able to fight for release with legal counsel from the Freedom Advocates Program, a new initiative launched by the Workers Circle and Sanctuary of the South earlier this summer in response to the hundreds of people still detained at Alligator Alcatraz, many of whom have faced detention, transfer, and possible deportation without legal representation. The Freedom Advocates Program began by deploying qualified immigration attorneys to provide universal legal consultations to people detained at Alligator Alcatraz and pursuing release on every viable case as fast as possible. It combines grassroots organizing with legal advocacy, connecting detainees with attorneys who can assess their cases and pursue representation where possible and bringing the power of public protest, the press, and advocacy with lawmakers to accelerate freedom. Beginning in May, the Freedom Advocates Program has served approximately 75 individuals, and pursued release and asylum claims for dozens of individuals.
Manuel walked free from the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, LA on June 12, 2026. Volunteers from New Orleans drove over three hours to pick him up at the facility and make sure he could start the long journey home to south Florida safely. Paul was released from the Federal Detention Center in Miami earlier this week and is home with his family in Broward County, Florida.
These cases are some of the Freedom Advocates Program’s first victories. Katie Blankenship, founder and managing partner with Sanctuary of the South, celebrated Manuel and Paul’s freedom. “It was incredible to be able to provide emergency legal representation at no cost to Manuel, Paul, and their families. Legal representation can make all the difference in the immigration system, which is operating in a historically lawless fashion. Individuals stripped of due process and denied access to the courts is the norm these days, not the exception. These cases and the Freedom Advocates Program overall demonstrates not only the life-changing impact of legal representation in ICE detention, but also the power of grassroots advocacy, including those resisting from inside ICE cages, to fight back and hold the constitutional line.”
For the Workers Circle, the ruling is a powerful victory — but not the end of the fight. “Even as all people detained in Alligator Alcatraz were suddenly transferred to other detention centers, this legal counsel follows them as does our grassroots advocacy,” said Noelle Damico, Director of Social Justice at the Workers Circle. “We have only just begun to unite the power of grassroots advocacy and legal advocacy to realize due process and win freedom for immigrants who are wrongly detained. This swift victory is early evidence that the model works. This is the first word in a field-shifting strategy that is still unfolding.”
The victory comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and DHS Border Czar Tom Homan announced the permanent closure of Alligator Alcatraz on Thursday. For nearly a year, the Workers Circle organized weekly freedom vigils that were supported by dozens of faith, civic, immigrant, cultural, and community organizations from across Florida. These freedom vigils have amplified the voices of detainees and their loved ones while building a broad coalition calling attention to the conditions inside detention facilities and the devastating impact of detention and deportation on families and communities. The freedom vigil at Alligator Alcatraz has inspired freedom vigils across the nation and with the victory of closing down Alligator Alcatraz, provides wind in the sails to the movement for freedom across the nation.
The Workers Circle and Sanctuary of the South will continue expanding Freedom Advocates beyond Alligator Alcatraz and fighting to ensure that every detained person has access to due process and legal representation as well as the grassroots power necessary to realize their freedom, until the Trump detention regime is brought to an end.
“This victory proves that legal representation saves lives and protects freedom,” said Ann Toback, CEO of the Workers Circle. “Two people are going home to their families today because they had access to counsel. We celebrate this win, but we won't stop until every person facing detention has the due process and legal support they deserve.”
* Pseudonyms have been used to protect the privacy of the detained individuals mentioned
About The Workers Circle
The Workers Circle is a national, secular Jewish social justice organization founded by Eastern European immigrants who fled pogroms and persecutions to seek democratic freedoms and build “a better and more beautiful world for all” at the turn of the 20th century. That history drives our work for human equality and robust democracy today. Our multigenerational activist community of 250,000+ people powers our strategic, non-partisan campaigns to empower voters, strengthen Constitutional rights, and build a durable, grassroots infrastructure to demand the multiracial democracy we need. Core campaigns of the Workers Circle include freedom vigils, talk to your sheriff, democracy circles, and voter empowerment.