Welcome to the Truth and Action Roundup, your reliable weekly source for information, inspiration, and opportunities for action during the second Trump administration.  Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up here to continue receiving it.

This week, we are all mourning the tragic killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. We are forced to confront, once again, the tragic consequences of mass deportation through aggressive policing across the country. The people of Minneapolis have been targeted by the Trump administration through attacks on the Somali community and its representatives. This rhetorical targeting led to a large deployment of ICE and Border Patrol, putting Renee Good’s life in the hands of the officers who shot her and refused to provide medical care.

In light of this tragic chain of events, we must renew our commitment to demanding an end to the deadly state violence aimed at our communities. This shooting is now one of 40 since the beginning of this push towards mass deportation by the Trump administration, according to The Trace. It also occurs in a country where more than 1,000 people are shot and killed by police every year. These numbers cannot convey the end of each individual divine spark represented by each life.

As Christians, we are called not only to mourn each of these lives but to act with conviction to dismantle the conditions that continue to produce such tragedies. The racism and xenophobia that have characterized the attacks on the Somali community must be forcefully rejected. The funds slated to continue to be directed toward DHS and ICE must be reversed, and we must demand that Congress act as a coequal branch as the Trump administration continues to lie and target our communities. In this way, we can truly honor Renee Good's memory.

- Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners

In the News

International news has been consumed by the U.S. attack on Venezuela, which has set an alarming precedent about possible U.S. conduct in Colombia, Cuba, Greenland and beyond:
- The Venezuelan regime has deployed armed militias to patrol the streets, operate checkpoints and check people’s phones in a crackdown to consolidate power after the U.S. Attack. Some journalists are among those detained.
- Opposition leader María Corina Machado has vowed to return to Venezuela as soon as possible, saying her movement is ready to win a free and fair election.
- Six hundred thousand Venezuelans in the United States could face deportation due to the loss of their Temporary Protected Status (TPS) last year. The administration has so far been clear that its attack on Venezuela does not change its decision to revoke TPS.
- European leaders have united to push back against Trump’s threats to take over Greenland and his administration’s refusal to rule out the use of military force. The leaders of Denmark, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain issued the joint statement.
The Trump administration continued to implement its cruel deportation agenda:
- After an ICE Agent shot and killed a protester in South Minneapolis, the governor has issued an order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard for possible action to respond to those who protest the killing.
- National Guard troops have been deployed to at least 10 U.S. cities since the beginning of the current Trump administration. The administration has also deployed more than 2,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities.
- 2025 was ICE’s deadliest year in two decades, with 32 people dying in custody. Human rights advocates have reported ICE detention to have unsanitary conditions, inadequate food, and poor medical care.
Congress returned to Washington, D.C., with plenty to do:
- Congressional appropriators are rejecting some of the most severe agency budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Three spending bills released on Monday also prohibit covered agencies from using congressional funds to carry out most agency reorganization activities without first notifying Congress.
- The Senate is voting next week on a bipartisan war powers resolution to block President Trump from continuing military action against Venezuela. The measure is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

Take Action

The Progressive Religious Coalition of Augusta will be holding its 18th annual commemoration of the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 15, 2026.
Sojourners and Interfaith Alliance along with other partners are hosting a training on nonviolent resistance on Jan. 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. EST. You can register here. 
Join us on Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. EST for our Engage and Adapt series with special guest Lauren Reliford, MSW, to discuss changes to health care funding and their impact on our future.

What We’re Reading

“‘America First’ Resurrects the Logic of Crusades in Venezuela”| “Trump’s actions in Latin America brazenly embrace the logic of one of Christianity's oldest, ugliest chapters.” (by Josiah Daniels)

“Our Prayers For You In The New Year”| “My prayer as we sojourn together into 2026 is that our fervent prayers guide and embolden us to advance God’s reign of justice, peace, and steadfast love with greater urgency and courage.” (By Rev Adam Taylor)

Deep Breaths

Protect Your Peace

Well, we’ve started this year with great intensity.
Remember to breathe.
Relax your shoulders.
Soften your brow.
Protect your peace

This week, I felt led to engage with the lead article in Sojourners’ latest edition, titled “We Need More ‘Heaven-Talk’: Why escapism is actually theological genius,” by Nick Peterson. It’s a powerful piece that highlights how “small acts of holy witness… can function as profound resistance without necessarily conforming to the world’s understanding of struggle.”

Peterson speaks of moments when one engages the imagination—methods of escaping present realities—as modes of resistance. He challenges critics who dismiss visions of heaven as mere escapism, arguing that this “heaven-talk” is not only valid but also deeply liberative. Peterson calls escapism “theological genius,” in which heaven is understood as both worldly and otherworldly.

The Spirituals are a profound example—songs that weave together the literal and the figurative, the harsh reality of slavery with the deep theological hope of bodily and spiritual liberation.

Peterson writes, “Without God’s vision of heaven, we do not know what God’s will concerning humans is.” We hear this echoed in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” When we pray those words, we are calling for a world that reflects heaven—a world infused with justice, peace, and divine imagination.

We’re going to need to embrace a little holy escapism to protect our peace. We must intentionally disconnect from the relentless news cycles that threaten our mental and emotional well-being. We need moments of song and dance, meditation and laughter—pauses of sacred escape that refuel our souls so we can run on and see what the end is gonna be.

I hope you’ll join me in creating rituals and rhythms of joy and peace, even in the midst of the work of resistance. We have much to do in 2026. We cannot afford to be delusional about our reality—we need clear eyes and courageous hearts. But we also cannot afford to be consumed by the constant onslaught.

We need spiritual and physical practices to help us endure.

So I ask you:
What practices will you intentionally take up this year?
What rhythms of joy are on deck for when you need to recharge?

Write them down. Post them somewhere visible—for the days when you’re at your wits' end.

Protect your peace, beloved.
Protect. Your. Peace.

— Rev. Moya Harris, Senior Director of Programs, 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
Senior Program Director: Rev. Moya Harris
Digital Education and Outreach Specialist: Cortnie Brooks
Policy and Action Assistant: Trinity Williams
Senior Director of Marketing: Sandra Sims