West/Southwest Industrial Areas Foundation organizations are actively working at federal, state and local levels so that immigrant families can participate more fully in public life.
In addition to responding to the humanitarian crisis at the border, local affiliates are bringing native- and foreign-born constituents into conversation around the theology (and economics) of immigration, educating recent newcomers with financial and 'Know Your Rights' civic academies, supporting policies which protect families and working to defeat those that would unfairly penalize undocumented immigrants for their status.
In California, affiliates have expanded access to public healthcare for immigrants, changed vehicle impoundment laws in urban municipalities and equipped thousands of individuals with government sanctioned photo-ID cards; In Arizona, organizations secured in-state tuition for DACA students in local community colleges; affiliates in Iowa have led voter education initiatives on the fiscal and economic impacts of immigration; and organizations in Texas have launched parish ID cards that are providing thousands of immigrants with alternative means of proving their identity to the police.
All immigration initiatives are rooted in the faith and democratic teachings of member institutions and seek to connect leaders across racial, ethnic and language lines.
'Recognizing the Stranger' is a new multi-year regional approach to immigration, working with local parishes to identify, train, and mentor immigrant leaders to build connections among themselves and with nonimmigrant allies in their parishes and the broader community. It is a collaborative effort among clergy, leaders, and organizers to develop capacity to tackle tough issues. With support from CCHD, the strategy has expanded from 7 to19 dioceses across the West and Southwest US.
According to CCHD Director Ralph McCloud, "Recognizing the Stranger is particularly successful because it captures the connections between what happens at Mass on Sunday morning, how families live their lives throughout the week, and how parishioners interact with members of the broader community. I have been impressed that participants seek true change. In the process, parishes are strengthened, unified, and revitalized."
Recognizing the Stranger, National Strategic Grant, CCHD
Program Trains Leaders to Put Faith into Action, Texas Catholic - Dallas
Immigrant Leaders Being Trained, Catholic Sentinel - Portland [pdf]
Milestones: Catholic Campaign, TMO Offers Leadership Training for Hispanic Parishioners, Texas Catholic Herald
THE LATEST
Jul 21, 2026
[Excerpt from Houston Chronicle Op-Ed by TMO leaders Bishop John Ogletree, Jr. and Rabbi David Lyon]
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo left home Tuesday before dawn to spend another day building homes for future Houstonians. Instead, during what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement described as a “targeted enforcement action” on Houston’s east side, the 35-year Houston resident and small business owner was killed.
We are Houston faith leaders, and our congregations belong to The Metropolitan Organization, a nonpartisan group that seeks the justice that so many of our faith traditions demand. We mourn Salgado’s death. And we demand an independent investigation into the enforcement strategy that led to it.
Jul 17, 2026
After hearing testimony at one of six public hearings One LA-IAF has held since November 2025, Congresswoman Luz Rivas introduced the HEART Act, a bill to redirect $76 billion to mental and health services for communities impacted by ICE raids.
Jul 16, 2026
In their town of 30,000, EPISO leaders from Socorro, TX learned that ICE bought a warehouse with the intent of using it to detain 8,500 people. Refusing to accept this, they organized hundreds of residents, ultimately scaling back detention center plans and postponing the construction start date.
Jul 16, 2026
In collaboration with the Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Omaha Together One Community (OTOC) hosted civic academies on Catholic Social Teaching, immigration, and organizing with 400 Anglo parishioners — building new relationships with Omaha's three largest parishes and giving parishioners a deeper understanding of the immigrant experience.
Jul 14, 2026
[Excerpt of Tulsa World Op-Ed by Lynn Minden, leader with Tulsa Lutherans in ACTION, in photo]
"....José came to America legally. He followed the steps our government provides people who are being targeted and oppressed. He, like many others, was waiting to have his case heard in immigration court. He was a hard worker who paid taxes. He was a valued member of the Tulsa community and of my church family.
Jun 22, 2026
As 41,000 central coast residents risk losing state-sponsored healthcare, COPA is expanding their constituency and urging California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas to push back.
May 22, 2026
A testament to fighting for the promise of democracy, Coloradans for the Common Good (CCG) and Mountain Voices Project (MVP) brought together 400 leaders and candidates for governor and attorney general for the largest action of Colorado’s primary election campaign season. Leaders shared powerful testimonies and secured public commitments from every candidate to take specific action on labor, education, housing, immigration, and consumer protections in Colorado.
May 08, 2026
At the urging of the Inland Communities Organizing Network (ICON), Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval organized a public hearing with over 100 people to allow residents to testify on their experiences with detainments and encounters with federal immigration agents.
Responding to declining school enrollment, pervasive fear, and what one ICON leader described as "a crisis of disappearing families," this was the second public hearing emerging from One LA's award-winning freedom school strategy.
Apr 23, 2026
[Excerpt]
Deacon Judy Eighmy stood in front of the podium at the Phoenix City Council chambers on March 25, looked directly at council members, and cited the shortest verse in the Bible: John 11:35,“Jesus wept.”
Eighmy, a leader with the Valley Interfaith Project (VIP), was one of dozens of Arizonans who showed up that day to implore the city to do more to protect immigrants in the face of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents target Arizona grandmothers, mothers, and other longtime residents, Eighmy delivered a moving testimony, using scripture to defend immigrants from what she called the “trauma” imposed on them by ICE.
Apr 11, 2026
The County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations honored One LA-IAF with its John Anson Ford Human Relations Award for their work organizing Freedom Schools that bring faith and community institutions together to strengthen civic belonging, protect human dignity, and build solidarity across lines of race, faith, language, and immigration status.
