Truth and Action Roundup 7.25.25

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. The Trump administration’s mass deportation policy continues to inflict fresh wounds on our communities. In carrying it out, we’re also seeing old wounds reopened through the conduct of police in support their enforcement. There have been some laudable examples of local governments adhering to their principles in refusing to serve as an arm of Trump’s deportation forces. Increasingly we’re seeing police brutality and illegal surveillance practices being deployed against protesters and community members alike.  This unfortunate reprisal of the images we most readily associate with the George Floyd protests in the context of a national program targeting the most vulnerable people in our communities serves as a sobering reminder that work left undone will mean more work later. As we confront this dangerous amalgamation of old and new in our current challenges, we must remember that all of our struggles are intertwined. As long as one member of our beloved community is targeted for violence and oppression, we all must stand in the gap for the sake of every precious life.  — Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners  In the News Here’s what’s been happening this week: 1) The Trump administration continued to carry out its cruel immigration agenda: ICE may have deported more migrants to third countries (i.e., places different from their countries of origin, to which they may have no ties whatsoever) than previously known. Flight data shows private flights contracted by ICE have landed in at least 13 of the 58 countries reportedly targeted for third country deportations. Federal prosecutors are regularly charging anti-ICE protesters with criminal offenses in cases from Spokane and Portland to Detroit and Los Angeles. The U.S. attorney for Los Angeles is reportedly under pressure to secure indictments of protestors and directing subordinates to push forward in ways that disregard the Justice Department’s Manual. Migrant people recently released from a notorious prison in El Salvador after being deported there by the Trump administration describe horrific conditions. The freed former prisoners describe physical and psychological torture, deprivation of adequate medical care, and a total lack of access to due process. The Border Patrol is consistently arresting migrants far from the southern border. Its jurisdiction stretches 100 miles from every border—including coastlines—meaning Border Patrol has jurisdiction over areas containing two-thirds of the country’s population, though it has traditionally operated mostly at land borders. The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act contains funding to hire 3,000 additional Border Patrol agents. Military bases in New Jersey and Indiana are being expanded to detain migrants. The Department of Homeland Security currently has about 57,000 people in immigration detention, despite having only about 41,000 beds. 2) The harms of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and broader Trump administration policies continue to be revealed: Cuts to Medicaid are set to put enormous strain on hospitals across the country, especially those in rural areas. The cuts, estimated to be the largest in Medicaid’s history, are leaving states scrambling to deal with the coming shortfalls and ER doctors warning of the strain the cuts will cause to the entire emergency-medicine safety net. The Justice Department has cancelled grants that tackle crime prevention through the lens of bipartisan policy priorities like violence prevention, victims’ services, and criminal justice research, even as the OBBBA massively expands immigration enforcement under the pretext of promoting public safety. 3) A political furor around child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein raged in Washington, DC. As new reporting revealed that Trump was told in May that his name appears several times in the so-called Epstein files, Trump and his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard seemingly sought to redirect attention by accusing former president Barack Obama of “leading the manufacturing” of an intelligence assessment linking Trump to Russia. Trump and Gabbard used words like “treason” and “treasonous conspiracy” to describe the former President’s conduct. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives went into recess a day early to prevent a vote on releasing the Epstein files. 4) As increasing numbers of people in Gaza die of starvation, including children, the UN says that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while seeking aid since late May. This week a group of more than 100 international humanitarian organizations called on Israel to end its blockade and agree to a ceasefire. The UN’s World Food Programme assessed this week that a quarter of Gaza’s population faces famine-like conditions. Take Action This Saturday on July 26th, Families First will host a day of action in defense of Medicaid. Find an action near you or join the vigil on the livestream here. We want to ensure that people are prepared to step in where Congress is withdrawing support. On August 5th at 7:00 p.m., we will launch our “Engage and Adapt” series in response to the recent changes in critical policies for our communities. Sign up here. What We’re Reading ‘The Hillbilly Music Offering a Spiritual Call to 'Yallidarity', by Huckabee, ‘Spread God's Love, Not Measles’, by Rev. Adam Russell Taylor ‘Clergy: It's time to lead the fight for families at state and local levels’, by Rev. Adam Russell Taylor Deep Breaths  Beloved. This week, I’m letting the words of the late bell hooks lead us. She reminds us that love is not weakness—it is a liberating force. A framework for freedom. “In this society, there is no powerful discourse on love emerging either from politically progressive radicals or from the Left. The absence of a sustained focus on love in progressive circles arises from a collective failure to acknowledge the needs of the spirit and an overdetermined emphasis on material concerns. Without love, our efforts to liberate ourselves and our world community from oppression and exploitation are doomed. As long as we refuse to address fully the place of love in struggles for liberation, we will not be able to create a culture of conversion where there is a mass turning away from an ethic of domination.” — bell hooks We are living in dangerous times. This current administration is moving with a spirit of domination—not love. That’s not to say prior administrations were perfect, but this one feels especially calculated in its cruelty. Power and profit continue to uphold systems in which the have-nots are sacrificed daily. In a world like this, love may seem soft—even foolish. But hooks knew otherwise. She called us to center love in our organizing, our preaching, our daily witness. Not just as a feeling—but as a strategy. As resistance. As liberation. Because we cannot use the enemy’s tools to build new worlds. Fresh paint on blood-stained walls will not do. True change demands a new foundation—one built on fierce love. In my spirit, I imagine love that breaks our hearts the way God’s heart breaks—when the poor are punished, when the vulnerable are left to suffer. And just like that divine ache, real love begins to crack the walls of domination. First invisible, then undeniable. Now is the time to tear down what harms—and build up what heals. To make space for joy. For justice. For beauty. To build, by any means necessary, a world where love leads. Reflection Prompt: In your quiet moments with the Divine this week, ask: How am I embodying love—in my work, my witness, and my community? — 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 Copyright © 2025 Sojourners. All rights reserved. Email: sojourners@sojo.net | Tel.: 202.328.8842