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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.

After one year of Trump’s return to office, we have seen an escalation of threats and violence both here and abroad. The continued use of the Department of Justice as a tool of retribution and political means, the deployment of federal agents and the National Guard in cities like Minneapolis, New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many others, as well as the use of the military to launch illegal strikes and threaten allies across the world.

In the face of this rising threat, we have not seen the regular people in communities throughout the United States resign themselves to these attacks on their neighbors and their conscience. Along every step, we have seen people come together to prevent as much harm as possible while demanding accountability and fidelity to the values we claim to hold. Christian leaders have been at the forefront of this response through not only spiritual and moral leadership but also by putting their faith into action by leading vigils, boycotts, protests, and mutual aid efforts.

It is incumbent upon us, as influential leaders, to also use our power to demand that civic institutions charged with defending our neighbors mount a vigorous defense. As we continue to face an administration that has asserted unlimited power to exercise its will, we must remain committed to dedicating our voices and our actions to creating another path that honors the divine in everyone.

Rev. Moya Harris and Chad Stanton, Sojourners

In the News

Here’s a look at what happened this week:

1. The Trump administration continued its cruel deportation agenda amid rising pushback to its actions:

• Labor unions, community leaders, and faith groups have come together to call for an economic blackout in Minnesota today to protest ICE’s presence and mourn Renee Nicole Good. This act of mass resistance would be the first general strike in the state in nearly 100 years.

• A federal judge ruled last Friday that ICE officers have engaged in a pattern of misconduct against protestors in Minneapolis-St. Paul and has ordered them to stop using excessive force. Multiple legal experts have made comparisons between the Minnesota resistance and police attacks on civil rights protestors in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.

• Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney and prominent local activist who led an anti-ICE protest at a Minnesota church whose pastor also works for ICE, has been arrested, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

• Camp East Montana, an immigration detention camp inside El Paso, Texas’ Fort Bliss, has seen three deaths of migrant people in custody there in just 44 days. The most recent victim, 36-year-old Víctor Manuel Díaz, had been detained in Minneapolis as part of ICE’s operation there and then flown to Texas for detention.

• The Justice Department is reportedly investigating Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, focusing on whether their public statements have impeded federal immigration enforcement. In response, Walz and Frey have made statements in which they denounced the administration’s “attempt to intimidate [them]” and its use of an “authoritarian tactic.”

2. There was a flurry of developments in international news:

• President Trump gave a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland filled with his customary falsehoods on the economy and his own record. He also used the time in Davos to launch the Board of Peace, which appears to be set up as an alternative body to the United Nations and of which Trump is apparently entitled to serve as chair for life.

• Trump’s Davos speech was also significant in that he appeared to back off his tariff threats related to his desire to take over Greenland. He ruled out using military force to take over the island and announced that the U.S. and NATO had “formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland.”

• According to the Iranian government, it has successfully suppressed antigovernment protests, after a crackdown that killed thousands. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister has warned the United States that it will be “firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack.”

• The House of Representatives took up another war powers resolution on Thursday, aiming to block further military action in Venezuela after this month’s attack.

3. Negotiations and hearings continued throughout the government in Washington, D.C.:

• The House of Representatives planned to vote this week on the remaining appropriations bills to fund the government as the deadline to avoid another government shutdown nears.

• House Democrats signaled their intent to oppose a Department of Homeland Security funding bill due to its lack of substantive reforms to ICE. All but a handful of House Democrats are expected to vote against the bill.

• In a hearing on Trump’s attempt to fire Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board, the high court seemed inclined to reject Trump’s effort to remove her. The court will issue its decision before its current term ends in June.

Take Action

• This week we’re asking people to call and write their members of Congress to demand ICE out of Minneapolis.

• African Communities Together and the UndocuBlack Network are holding a Know Your Rights workshop concerning the new travel ban on January 29th

What We’re Reading

“Minneapolis Faith Leaders Amplify Demands For Ice To Repent” | “For the last five weeks, organizers and activists, including faith leaders, have been working diligently to respond to the influx of ICE agents targeting Somali immigrants in the twin cities.” (by Mitchell Atencio)

“’Abolish ICE’ is the Cry of the Prophets” | “But the last year has made something devastatingly clear: Those who called for ICE’s abolition were not dewy-eyed idealists or paranoid conspiracists. They were absolutely right.” (by Tyler Huckabee)

Deep Breaths

Reflections of How Life Used To Be

Beloved, we have been through a lot, and more may still lie ahead. Many of us are tired. The weight of these days is real. Even so, there is still work to do. We are called to the steady rhythm of resistance and rest as we labor toward the world God intends.

I want to ask you a few questions. Do you find yourself longing for the way life used to be? When the days feel heavy, it is natural to wonder if returning to what once was might bring relief or safety.

Here is another question to hold gently. What if the way things used to be was not a life of thriving for everyone? What if the systems of this country never truly protected those on the margins, and going back is not enough? If the past offered comfort to some while costing others their dignity and safety, would that truly be the peace we are seeking?

In moments like these, it is tempting to want what we once had. But we are invited to stay present and attentive to what could be. Perhaps this moment, as exhausting as it feels, is an opening to become a country that is more honest and more whole. What if this is the time to dig deep and dream carefully, to loosen the grip of systems that were never meant for the flourishing of Black and Brown people?

This present evil works hard to drain hope, especially from those who love widely and refuse to narrow their circle of care. If you are feeling worn down, you are not alone. Still, we must remain focused on our assignment. What we are facing is bigger than headlines or the churn of images designed to keep us anxious. Our work calls for steadiness, intention, and love.

Love is what will sustain us when fear threatens to take over. Nothing lasting is built outside of God’s love. So I ask you this. Are you holding onto reflections of how life used to be, or are you, even in your weariness, allowing yourself to imagine a world shaped by God’s love in all its hues?

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