Truth and Action Roundup 7.18.25

View this email in your browser Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, a reliable weekly source of information, inspiration, and action for the second Trump administration. Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it. Today is Friday, July 18. We often view democracy through the act of voting, but voting depends on something more profound: the public’s access to truthful, reliable information about the world around them.  This week, that foundation came under attack. During a House Homeland Security Oversight Committee hearing, conspiracy theories targeted churches and charities aiding asylum seekers, many of which started under the first Trump administration. This follows a pattern: from the recent political spectacle surrounding the so-called “Epstein Files” to the ongoing spread of disinformation about vaccines, falsehoods are being weaponized to distract, divide, and harm.  As people of faith, we must resist the allure of narratives that cater to our fears or reinforce our biases. Democracy cannot survive without a free and trusted civil society—including journalists, scholars, and clergy—who labor to share truth and uphold the common good.  It is our sacred responsibility to protect that trust. Faith leaders are called to hold fast to the truth, not only as a spiritual imperative, but as a civic one. In a time of confusion and distortion, truth-telling is a form of holy resistance.  — Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners  In the News Here’s what’s been happening this week: 1) The Trump administration’s deportation agenda continues to create suffering: The administration fired 17 immigration court judges across 10 states “without cause,” according to the union representing them. The dismissals come amid a significant judge shortage, a massive 3.5 million-case backlog, and Congress has recently authorized hiring 800 new judges. At least one of the firings has raised concerns that it was politically motivated, as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) alleged it was the result of that judge giving him a tour of the court and explaining its functions. ICE declared that undocumented immigrants are no longer eligible for bond hearings as they fight deportation proceedings in court. They can now only be released if the Homeland Security Department grants an exception, according to a July 8 memo from ICE’s acting director Todd Lyons that was first obtained by the Washington Post. The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act will dramatically expand funding for ICE, allowing it to detain far more people. More parents without documentation are arranging emergency plans for their children’s care in case they are deported, risking indefinite separation from their children. Nearly 2 million American children under age 6 live in households with an undocumented family member. Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, who was detained for 45 days in an ICE women’s prison in Louisiana, opened up about her harrowing experience in a recent interview with Vanity Fair. Öztürk, whose detention stemmed from pro-Palestinian activism (she co-wrote an op-ed for the student newspaper), recounts cramped and dehumanizing conditions in the for-profit prison, as well as solidarity and community with her fellow prisoners. 2) The Senate approved $9 billion in cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, sending the bill back to the House for a final vote. The Senate version of the bill removed a $400 million cut to PEPFAR—a highly successful program that combats HIV/AIDS worldwide—that was included in the original House version. 3) American politics remains poisoned by conspiracy theories. A Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday scrutinizing the role of NGOs in assisting migrants served primarily as a venue for GOP Members of Congress to demonize non-white migrants crossing the southern border. This type of rhetoric has roots in the so-called “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which has been implicated in numerous incidents of mass violence. The theory also helps explain Republican legislation in the House of Representatives that aims to exclude non-citizens from future census counts. The Trump administration and its allies continue to fuel conspiracy theories about voting and the 2020 election, including a new push to inspect voting equipment and voter rolls, raising concerns about interference by the administration ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump’s long-time refusal to denounce QAnon conspiracy theories may be backfiring as he now tries to dismiss some of his supporters’ questions about the so-called “Epstein files” and the Department of Justice’s action related to them. 4) Inflation continues to put a strain on families’ budgets, with prices are an average of 26% higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and still rising. The increase in the prices of consumer goods—the largest in four months—raised concerns that Trump’s tariffs are starting to impact the economy negatively. Take Action On July 22nd at 8:00 p.m. join an online training on how to meet with or call your sheriff and urge them not to cooperate with ICE in disappearing our neighbors, presented by the Not Above The Law Coalition. What We’re Reading “100 Years After the Scopes Trial, What Is Truth?” | Same struggle, different players. (By Brenda Wineapple) “Superman The Immigrant Has Always Reminded Me of Jesus” | Clark Kent is once again the heroic savior…But this time, the stakes are political. (By Yanan Rahim Navarez Melo) “As A Pastor, Here’s Why I Believe Protest Works” | Standing up to the U.S. empire today will require that clergy and other people of faith reject despair and commit to action. (Michael Woolf) Deep Breaths  Get in Good Trouble We are living in troubled times. Not just chaotic or uncertain, but troubled. Trouble manifests as conflict and cruelty, greed masquerading as governance, and silence in the face of suffering. But as John Lewis reminded us, trouble isn’t always a thing to avoid. Sometimes it’s the very path to liberation. “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” This is such a time. Across the country, laws are being passed that punish the poor, criminalize immigrants, and gut the rights our ancestors bled for. There’s talk of faith, but it’s a distorted faith—twisting scripture to uphold power, wrapping oppression in religious language. White Christian Nationalism is not Christianity. It’s the armor of white supremacy. And now, they’re coming for birthright citizenship—trying to unravel the 14th Amendment itself. If they succeed, it won’t stop there. They’ll shrink the electorate. Shrink democracy. Shrink who counts. But we are not called to shrink. We are called to rise. Good Trouble is our tradition and is sacred work. The vote is not just a right—it is a tool of transformation. And they know it. That’s why they fight so hard to take it away. But John Lewis showed us another way: disrupt what needs dismantling and speak truth, even when your voice shakes. Good Trouble means refusing to bow to the gods of death and domination. It means organizing, educating, protesting, preaching, and protecting. It means standing on the shoulders of Lewis, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and every ancestor who refused to be silent. As John Lewis asked us: “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?” So let us rise. Let us vote. Let us speak. Let us love boldly. Let us get in Good Trouble—until justice prevails. — Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners The Truth and Action Roundup is compiled by Sojourners staff: President: Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Senior Research Associate: J.K. Granberg-Michaelson Digital Content and Community Specialist: Kassandra Tapia Chief Program and Impact Officer: Bryan Epps Political Director: Chad V. Stanton Director of Racial Justice: Rev. Moya Harris Digital Education and Outreach Specialist: Cortnie Brooks Mobilizing and Policy Assistant: Miriam Tellez Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims Unsubscribe or update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842