Throughout the 1960s, the federal government used the Freedom Tower to process and document Cuban refugees, providing medical and dental services to families arriving with little more than what they could carry. The tower became the administrative heart of one of the largest refugee resettlements in American history. Cubans of every social class passed through its doors -- former professors and sugar farmers, doctors and fishermen -- all entering the machinery of immigration processing in a building originally designed to publish a newspaper. When the major era of refugee arrivals ended, the government sold the building to private buyers in 1974. The tower sat vacant and deteriorating, its grand halls echoing with absence rather than the bustle of new arrivals.

In 1979, the Freedom Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places, but recognition did not prevent decay. The building languished until 1997, when the family of prominent Cuban-American businessman Jorge Mas Canosa purchased it for $4.1 million. The Mas family restored the tower to its original condition and converted it into a memorial for the refugees who had passed through its halls. It housed a museum, library, meeting hall, and the offices of the Cuban American National Foundation. When salsa legend Celia Cruz died in 2003, more than 200,000 people came to the Freedom Tower to pay their respects -- a testament to how deeply the building was woven into the fabric of Miami's Cuban community.

In 2005, the Freedom Tower was donated to Miami Dade College, which now operates it as a museum, cultural center, and education center. The MDC Museum of Art + Design occupies the second floor, offering free exhibitions to the public. Inside the Grand Hall, a mural called New World Mural 1513 -- painted in 1988 by a group known as The Miami Artisans -- recreates a ruined original from 1926 that was commissioned by the tower's developer, former Ohio Governor James M. Cox. The center of the mural features a poem by Edwin Markham, the poet laureate who spoke at the Lincoln Memorial. On October 6, 2008, the tower was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark specifically for its role in hosting Cuban refugees. The American Institute of Architects' Florida Chapter placed it on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years, 100 Places.

The Freedom Tower continues to attract figures seeking the symbolic weight of its history. In April 2015, Cuban-American Senator Marco Rubio chose the tower as the venue to announce his presidential campaign, citing its significance as a beacon of freedom. That same year, King Felipe VI of Spain received the Presidential Medal from Miami Dade College inside the building -- a moment that connected the tower back to the Seville architecture that inspired it. In 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis announced a $25 million investment to preserve and enhance the tower. And in 2025, President Donald Trump announced plans to build his presidential library on an adjacent 2.63-acre parcel of land owned by Miami Dade College, keeping the Freedom Tower at the center of Miami's evolving story.