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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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.

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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…

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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.

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.

On October 13th, West/Southwest IAF and Bishop Mark Seitz (Catholic - El Paso) hosted a seminar in El Paso with leaders from across the country to “Reimagine Immigration.” 

Leaders provided historical, political, and data-based context for the anxiety and terror experienced by our immigrant congregants, neighbors, and loved ones, and the impact of current immigration enforcement practices on our institutions. They were joined by panelists Bishop Michael Pham Minhn Cường (Catholic - San Diego), Bishop Jorge Rodríguez (Catholic - Denver), and Bishop Carlo Rapanut (UMC - Phoenix). Special guests included Bob Moore, publisher of El Paso Matters.

“This is our moment to reimagine Dallas—not as it is, but as its residents want it to be.”

- Pastor Vincent Parker

Over 1,000 people representing over 30 congregations and non-profits from across Dallas united to “Reimagine Dallas” in 2026. Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI)’s event marked the culmination of ten months of organizing focused on transforming Dallas through action on immigration, affordable housing, and quality early childhood education.

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.

On Sunday, October 12, 2025 at the Starlight Event Center, over 650 leaders from across institutions in El Paso gathered as delegations to launch their campaign -  "Reimagine El Paso." The action was hosted by EPISO/Border Interfaith, a long-standing grassroots community organization, dedicated to forming people to be active participants in the public arena. 

Co-Chair Cindy Ortega of St. Thomas Aquinas told the delegations, "There is a word I learned recently - 'plasticity.' It means that things are not set in stone, they can change. We do not have to be resigned to the way things are- we are moldable and so is the world - we can change things, we can have an impact."

In response to changes in immigration law enforcement and the upsurge in ICE detentions and deportations, Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) is developing a legal representation strategy for people in detention.