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A new effort in the San Joaquin Valley is bringing together residents, educators, faith groups, and civic leaders to address the region’s most pressing issues.

More than 700 people filled an auditorium at Fresno State on May 3 for a “founding convention” of the newly created organization called United San Joaquin.

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Heartfelt and tearful testimonies from Pomona residents and workers about recent run-ins with federal immigration agents made for a tense atmosphere at a public hearing convened by Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval.

About 100 people attended the May 2 event at The Union, including Sandoval, Pomona City Council member Nora Garcia, and staff from Inland Communities Organizing Network (ICON), a local affiliate of the Industrial Areas Foundation. It was organized by ICON, with support from Gente Organizada, the Latino and Latina Roundtable of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valley, and ICE out of Pomona.

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.

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.

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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…

Months after the nation's first sustained immigration raids hit Los Angeles and surrounding cities, the City of Angels hosted the first congressional field hearing on their impact -- a process set in motion after One LA-IAF leaders met with Mayor Karen Bass and pressed for public hearings to document widespread civil rights violations.

Before the hearing, Mayor Bass marched with One LA leaders, clergy, and families to the LA Metropolitan Water District, where the hearing convened. LA Auxiliary Bishop Matthew Elshoff, OFM Cap. also joined the procession.

Energy crackled as 110 COPA leaders from 28 institutions, including Bishop Lucinda Ashby of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real, filled the room for an honest, wide-ranging conversation with California Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas.

Crediting One LA with the idea, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Congressman Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced a broad congressional investigation into civil rights abuses, with the first field hearing to take place in Los Angeles.