Click here for West/Southwest IAF Key Victories in 2024

Valley Interfaith & Allies Block $160M Tax Break for Natural Gas Project

Once again, Valley Interfaith leaders and allies organized to stop a multi-million dollar tax break for Texas LNG, a billion-dollar company seeking to build a natural gas facility at the Port of Brownsville. 

After the company applied for a $160 million tax abatement from Port Isabel ISD, leaders met with trustees, educated community members, and testified at the school board meeting. Following the testimony, the board unanimously rejected the application.

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Westside Louisiana Leaders Defy Odds, Increase Turnout in Key State House Election

When a special election was set for swing district HD60 on February 7th - during Mardi Gras season and the week before Valentine’s Day - insiders predicted low turnout and little engagement from African American voters in this largely rural district. 

The Westside Sponsoring Committee (WSC) organized for a different result.

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'We Hear Your Voices': Oklahoma Archbishop Responds to Immigrant Families Organized by VOICE-OKC

[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.

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VIP in America, The Jesuit Review: The ICE surge in Minnesota is winding down. Is Arizona next?

[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,” Idefonso Magana, 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.

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TNO Wins $30M to Create the Largest Community-Based Virtual Power Plant in the Deep South

The New Orleans City Council unanimously approved the Neighborhood Power Plan - a $30 million proposal by Together New Orleans (TNO) and allies to strengthen the local power grid by installing solar batteries at over 1,600 homes, community facilities and businesses.

Funded with Entergy settlement dollars, the plan will not increase utility rates.

According to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, New Orleans Mayor Elect Helena Moreno called the endeavor "the largest single investment in community-led sustainability the city has ever made."

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COPA Delivers Esperanza: Healthcare Access for 500 Undocumented Adults in Monterey County

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.

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85% Without Power: During Winter Storm Fern, Delta Interfaith Keeps East Carroll Neighbors Safe

With tens of thousands left in the dark across Northern Louisiana, Delta Interfaith and Together Louisiana swiftly mobilized to keep their neighbors safe.

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Amid School Closure, COPS/Metro Secures Commitment for New West Side K-8 School

SAISD voted unanimously to close Carvajal Elementary, a 76-year old West Side school serving families in one of San Antonio’s poorest zip codes. While the closure disrupts hundreds of families, COPS/Metro leveraged SAISD’s commitment of $28.6 million in bond funds to build a new, modern K–8 school on the West Side.

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TMO Calls for Hospital Beds Over Parking Lots

The Metropolitan Organization of Houston (TMO) is mobilizing communities across Harris County to win what voters already approved: a critical expansion of Ben Taub Hospital that would add 100 new patient rooms and relieve dangerous overcrowding at one of Houston’s most essential emergency care facilities.

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