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 saw the human cost of the Iran war as fallen service members returned home. Estimates put the death toll between 9,000 and 18,000 people in a few months. As Christians, we must remember every person lost ––each one could have been with us in community and fellowship if not for war. These deaths are even more tragic because they happened in a war that did not have to happen, with reasons that seem to change every time the administration tries to explain them.

Rather than trying to stop this senseless bloodshed, the House of Representatives approved $1.5 trillion in ongoing military funding. This staggering figure comes at a time when states are cutting off food assistance for thousands of people in the United States, and rising fuel costs are hurting communities around the world. This contrast shows where our government’s priorities lie, just as Matthew 6:21 reminds us: “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

As Christians, we must insist that our treasure and our hearts are focused on what truly matters. Instead of spending our lives and resources on this new forever war, we should call for peace. Instead of funding bombing campaigns that destroy bridges and water supplies, we must demand Congress to use its oversight power, as required by the 60-day limit on conflicts without approval. Rather than resigning to another war, we must renew our commitment to feeding and caring for our neighbors.

–Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners

P.S. We are continuing to build an intentional community of people looking to live out their faith in our Sojourners Faith and Practice Forum on Mighty Networks. Please consider joining us.

In the News

1. Turmoil persisted in international affairs, as the United States continued in its attempts to project its power overseas.

• The Trump administration issued a report on Monday alleging that a multi-decade Cuban influence campaign in the United States has had “remarkable success” in infiltrating the highest levels of the U.S. government. The report raises fears that the Trump administration is seeking to establish a pretext for overthrowing the Cuban government.

• Donald Trump warned Wednesday that the U.S. will destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. International law generally prohibits such attacks unless the infrastructure is being used for military purposes.

• The war on Iran has created global ripple effects, including worsening malnutrition and poverty in countries like Nigeria. A recent UNICEF report said that if the war on Iran continues, up to 23.4 million additional children could fall into poverty by the end of the year.

2. The Trump administration’s cruel deportation regime continued to cause suffering and provoke resistance.

• The family of Nenko Gantchev, 56, who died in ICE detention at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan last December, is still searching for answers. Gantchev’s wife and friends have accused the facility of not making accommodations for his type two diabetes, which may have contributed to his death from a heart attack. At least 45 people have died in ICE detention since the beginning of Trump’s second term.

• Karolina Rojas, the partner of Johan Guerrero, who was shot by an ICE agent in Maine last week, urged people not to remember him for the way he died but rather for his unyielding desire to build a good life for his family. She remembered him as a tireless worker, an adoring partner, and a father whose greatest joy was his 3-year-old daughter.

• 22-year-old Emma Landis, who was shot in the right foot by Brandon Booth, an employee of GEO Group, which operates an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, returned to the scene of her shooting a few days later and spoke to protestors and reporters. “I will continue to advocate for this stuff,” Landis said. “I got shot for it. I care.”

3. Discussions over federal social programs continued in Washington, DC, while the impacts of recent legislation on those programs were felt throughout the country.

• At least 1.5 million children have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits since Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law last summer, enacting the largest cuts to federal food aid in the nation’s history. SNAP participation overall was down by over 4.5 million people between July 2025 and April 2026.

• Far-reaching federal health funding cuts under the OBBBA are exacerbating a maternal health crisis, with rural labor and delivery units, free-standing birth centers, and women’s health clinics closing across the country. The existing pressures on these health care facilities have been worsened by the Medicaid cuts enacted under the OBBBA.

Take Action

• We’re joining The Workers Circle in encouraging you to Talk To Your Sheriff about protecting constitutional rights and immigrant communities.

• Tomorrow, Disappeared in America will be a National Day of Action in response to the killings of Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

What We’re Reading

“The Protestant Myth that Allowed Platner to Get as Far as He Did” | Bigotry is not merely something that resides in people’s hearts. (By Noah Berlatsky)

“Why These Nuns Set Their Land on Fire” | Across the country, faith communities are treating land stewardship as a matter of faith, not just conservation. (By Julian Tiburcio)

Deep Breaths

You Belong

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how vital being in community during these times is, and on those who feel like they have yet to find a place where they belong.

If we feel isolated from a lack of community or feel like we don’t need community, we remain vulnerable to the systems and structures that we will never be able to trust or rely on in the way we can in the right community.

Today, as the news seems scarier and the future appears bleaker, may we reflect on how we view ourselves and our worthiness to be in rooms with people who see us, hear us, and long to get to know us.

We deserve to be known.

Here is an excerpt from Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley on belonging. May her words speak to you as they have spoken to me on many occasions as of late.

––Trinity Williams, Policy and Action Assistant, Sojourners

“There is something inherently vulnerable about saying you want to belong. For, to name you are lonely, and then be met with nothing, only doubles the loneliness. It is much easier to construct illusions around your “independence” and solitariness. To admit your desire to be known would mean acknowledging the shame asleep in you that says you aren’t worth knowing–the doubt that says they cannot be trusted to love you.

I’m beginning to think alienation and rejection are the two great persuaders of our own unloveliness. The cunning will wield them against you so that you acquiesce to the systems of a community in order to retain membership in it. Perhaps you know what it’s like to need to believe a certain doctrine or creed so that you can belong in a certain spiritual space, or to vote a certain way to belong at the dinner table. When someone places your very belonging at stake, they are prodding an ancient wound. Not all belonging is salve.

For you, I want more. I want friendship, romance, family. I want a community that will not destroy you. I want belonging that isn’t always at risk, that isn’t always being threatened. For you, I want the sense of self required to walk away, to forage for solid bonds. To be known is not frivolous; it is survival. You will not survive by self-care and self-love alone. Who will hold you? Who will remember you? You, who are something to behold. You who are flawed and mysterious and needy and good.

Belonging is not too great an ask. Find your sacred company. And may they find and cherish you.

Breathe:

INHALE: I was meant for love,

EXHALE: God, help me to receive it.

INHALE: I need more than me.

EXHALE: We get free together

INHALE: I am worthy of embrace

EXHALE: God, lead me to belonging.”

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