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.

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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.

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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.

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.

[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.... 

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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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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.