Dozens of anti-ICE protests took place across Indiana over the weekend.
Organizers said the events were aimed at pressuring Gov. Mike Braun to scrap an agreement to hold immigration detainees at an aging state prison.
Read more: Weekend events oppose ICE detention, held across Indiana
At a prayer vigil in Columbus, protesters listened as faith and community leaders read the names of some of the hundreds of people being held at the Miami Correctional Facility, where two ICE detainees have died since February.
“No more lives should be placed at risk," said Rev. Felipe Martinez, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Columbus. "Consider those who have lost their lives and the grief that their families have been through.”
Other speakers included Ben Meyers, a local representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Columbus.
“I am happy to stand here in unity with you, calling for improved and appropriate treatment of immigrants in our nation, our state, and in our city,” he said.
Read more: ICE responds after reports of medical, staffing failures
Meyers reiterated the Mormon church's stances on immigration enforcement, including its opposition to family separation during proceedings.
The Miami facility houses only adult male detainees.
“We recognize an ever-present need to strengthen families. Families are meant to be together. Forced separation of parents from their children weakens families and damages society,” Meyers said, reading from a church statement.
The Columbus vigil was one of about 60 events in Indiana held over the weekend in opposition to housing ICE detainees at Miami.
In Bloomington, protesters tied a large banner reading “CLOSE ICE DEATH CAMPS” in front of the Monroe County courthouse late Friday.
Organizer Gerhard Glomm urged attendees to contact Gov. Braun and ask him to stop allowing ICE to move detainees into the Miami prison.
“If Gov. Braun does an honest, open-minded investigation of the conditions in that facility, he will come to the same conclusion that we have come to, which is it's cruel to have 800-plus people in a facility in inhumane conditions,” Glomm said.
Read more: Feds owe Indiana millions for immigration detention
Indiana is receiving millions of dollars as a part of a 2-year agreement with ICE to house as many as 1,000 immigration detainees at Miami.
Critics including the ACLU of Indiana and some Democratic lawmakers say the facility is not equipped to add so many more people.
“It’s in the best interest of those people, and probably also in the interest of residents of the state of Indiana, to not extend that contract,” Glomm said.
Last month Gov. Braun ordered the Department of Correction to “fully review” allegations of abuse and medical neglect at the facility.
