[Exerpt from op-ed by CCG Leaders Claire Zilber and Shannon Hoffman originally published in Denver Westword]

“Denver, I hear you,” Mayor Mike Johnston said on social media when he announced that the city will not renew the Flock Safety camera contract that expires March 31. 

He claims he has heard the city, but has declined to meet with his constituents.

So, Flock is out and Axon Enterprise is on deck. 

Coloradans for the Common Good (CCG) is not convinced this is a better option for the City and County of Denver.

[Excerpt by Joe Rubio, National Co-Director, Industrial Areas Foundation]

Lament demands a response. In John’s gospel for this Sunday, we find the passage where collectively expressed grief makes such a claim. “Jesus wept” is often cited as the shortest biblical verse, but it may also be the most poignant. The scripture recounts the story just prior to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem when he learns that his beloved friend Lazarus is ailing in Bethany.... 

[Excerpt:]

An Oklahoma faith leader has asked the Trump administration to allow clergy inside immigration detention centers to offer pastoral care for detainees.

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told a group of local parishioners that the request was among the issues he discussed during a high-profile meeting with President Donald Trump in January. At a recent gathering at Little Flower Catholic Church, Coakley shared several details about the meeting, which included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem…

Voices Organized In Civic Engagement, known as VOICE-OKC, hosted the gathering at Little Flower to give immigrant parishioners an opportunity to speak directly to Coakley and to hear from him as their archbishop and the president of an influential coalition of American bishops based in Washington, D.C. The Rev. Tim Luschen, pastor of Little Flower, is one of VOICE-OKC's founding members.

[Excerpt]

A child comes home after school in tears, asking his parents what it means to be undocumented. “Do I have documents?” he asks. They reassure him that he does. He was born in the United States.

During recess, he was playing soccer with his classmates. His team scored a goal and were celebrating when a classmate on the opposing team approached him. He told him that Donald Trump was going to come for him and his family at night to take them out of this country.

“The boy didn’t want to go back to school,” Ildefonso Magaña, a (Valley Interfaith Project leader and) union organizer for more than 20 years, told America in a Spanish-language interview. An anxious coworker shared the story with him a couple of months ago.

At the urging of Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA) leaders, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the creation of Esperanza Care 2.0—a county healthcare program for undocumented adults, launching with 500 people and a commitment to expand.

In house meetings and in their parishes, leaders with Silicon Valley Allied for the Common Good (SVACG) heard from immigrant families living in isolation - afraid to leave their homes or send their children to school - and unsure what to do if ICE comes knocking on their door. 

In response, SVACG united over 140 leaders for a Rapid Response Training with the Santa Clara Rapid Response Network to prepare residents to safely support immigrant neighbors targeted by ICE. Leaders also launched a research action campaign to identify additional ways to stand with families and strengthen long-term support in the community.

[Excerpt]

Pastors, priests and other faith leaders in Grand Rapids gathered together on a bitterly cold Martin Luther King Jr. Day to call for the humane treatment of immigrants — citizens and non-citizens — sharing stories from streets, sanctuaries and, in a few cases, detention cells.

The words of the late reverend and civil rights activist, who was assassinated, defined much of the event's rhetoric and tone.

"'Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that,'" said Lynette Sparks, a pastor and a representative for Together West Michigan, the nonprofit that hosted the Monday event.

[Excerpts]

When the Rev. Joey Evangelista saw immigration agents wearing “full battle gear,” their faces covered by masks, just two blocks from St. Kevin Catholic Church, he froze. The Catholic priest, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, said he still has trauma from facing military intimidation while in ministry in the Philippines and Congo. 

Evangelista said the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement actions reminded him of former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s tactics during his war on drugs. The priest told RNS, “It’s the same playbook, and it’s scary.” 

Although Evangelista admits he’s “scared” as a priest in the United States on a religious worker visa, he’s using his “privileged position” as a clergy member to work with a local interfaith group that wants to defend democracy.

One LA, a local coalition of religious groups and other community institutions, has been convening civics meetings, which the group refers to as “freedom schools,” since the summer in response to immigration raids. They also work with local elected officials to hold public hearings about the impacts of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign, seeing both efforts as helping protect democracy…

[Excerpts]

On a Tuesday evening in mid-November, dozens of cars slow-rolled, bumper-to-bumper, along Northwest Highway, queuing to turn onto Hillcrest Road. Temple Emanu-El was this year’s host for Dallas Area Interfaith’s Reimagine Dallas...The group, which consists of about three dozen congregations of various faiths and denominations, has since 1984 organized around issues rooted in justice, making sure policymakers and other powerful people follow through on their promises.