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Susana Sandoval, 46, leads members of the National Domestic Workers Alliance into Lafayette Square on Saturday morning. Holly Honderich/Medill News Service
Thousands of protesters clad in white and armed with signs denouncing President Donald Trump rallied Saturday in more than 90-degree heat against the Trump administration’s immigration policy and the “zero-tolerance” approach that has separated children from their parents after they crossed the border from Mexico to the U.S.
Protesters outside the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., June 30, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Tens of thousands gathered in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., Saturday to call for an end to family separation. Braving a scorching 95-degree heat, people had come from all over the country to attend the Families Belong Together event. Organizers had three demands for President Trump: Reunite families, end family detention, and reverse the “zero tolerance” policy.
Jonathan Reed of Silver Spring, Md., holds up a sign as he stands in a spray of water from a fire truck during rally in Washington, D.C. June 30. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
Tens of thousands of protesters marched in cities across the United States on Saturday to demand the Trump administration reverse an immigration crackdown that has separated children from parents at the U.S-Mexico border and led to plans for military-run detention camps.
1. How We Treat Immigrants Is How We Treat God
“There may be political, economic, and personal reasons for an unwillingness to love immigrants, but according to Jesus, there are no spiritual ones."
2. Hey, White People: Pixar’s Dumpling Short ‘Bao’ Isn’t About You
A uniquely Chinese immigrant story has left white, Western moviegoers baffled.
Brain imaging is illuminating the neural patterns behind pain’s infinite variety
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (R) and fellow Justice Anthony Kennedy look on in the audience at a reception hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in honour of newly-confirmed Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, August 6, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files
The conservative Kennedy, who turns 82 in July and is the second-oldest justice on the nine-member court, has become one of the most consequential American jurists since joining the court in 1988 as an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan. He proved instrumental in advancing gay rights, buttressing abortion rights and erasing political spending limits. His retirement takes effect on July 31, the court said.
Image via Rafael Medina/flickr
Given the extreme physical and existential threats facing Christians in Syria, support for Assad and the Syrian Army likely come as a surprise to those who view the state as a primary cause for the community’s plight. Why would a group frequently targeted for state-sanctioned violence continue to pay lip service to a murderous regime?
Trees cast shadows outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., June 25, 2018. REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan
The 5-4 ruling, with the court's five conservatives in the majority, ends for now a fierce fight in the courts over whether the policy represented an unlawful Muslim ban. Trump can now claim vindication after lower courts had blocked his travel ban announced in September, as well as two prior versions, in legal challenges brought by the state of Hawaii and others.
Image via American Life League / Flickr
She later remarked, “It just struck me as ridiculous….How could they be talking about marriage and birth control of all things without a lot more input from the persons involved?” Crowley testified before the commission, telling them that, besides being unreliable, rhythm was psychologically harmful, did not foster married love or unity and, moreover, was unnatural.
Image via TheNoxid / Flickr
Protestors have marched the streets of downtown Pittsburgh since Rose, 17, was fatally shot three times by an East Pittsburgh police officer as he ran from a vehicle, after it was stopped by police who were investigating a nearby shooting.
President Donald Trump looks back at DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as he prepares to sign an executive order with Vice President Mike Pence at the White House., June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Trump signed an executive order requiring immigrant families be detained together when they are caught entering the country illegally for as long as their criminal proceedings take. While that may end a policy that drew a rebuke from Pope Francis and everyone else from human rights advocates to business leaders, it may also mean immigrant children remain in custody indefinitely.
Pennsylvania was the first state to institute the practice of confining prisoners alone in single cells. It started when a jail in Philadelphia became Eastern State Penitentiary, the country’s first state prison, in 1790. That was one year before the Eighth Amendment prohibited cruel and unusual punishment, and 223 years before the DOJ found the state’s use of solitary violated that amendment.
Steven Cave with Keith Sanford. Photo by Micah Danney
Four months after he was released from prison, Steven Cave, 36, sat between the couple he calls his parents in Bloomsburg, Pa., and explained how their kindness showed him how to end a lifetime of chaos.
Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini
Pope Francis has criticized the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant families at the Mexican border, saying populism is not the answer to the world's immigration problems.
This is why the civil rights movement was so impactful. The movement for justice was fueled and sustained by faith. The soul was not considered something separate from the body it was the source, the epicenter, and the driver for non-violent resistance and hope-filled resilience. Dr. King called this soulful way of doing justice “soul force.” Soul force heals the misguided bifurcation between evangelism and social justice by showing the deep connection between our souls and our actions. We must recover the soul of justice, lest we end up cynical, burned out, and reactionary. Soul work sustains both individuals and communities in our justice work. We must not neglect our souls in the work for justice nor neglect justice to tend to our souls. We must commit to both lifestyles and collectives that demand soul care as a non-negotiable act of justice for all.
Women of faith gather outside U.S. Customs and Border Protection on June 19 to demand an end to family separation. Image via Jenna Barnett/Sojourners.
A breathtaking number of faith groups across denominations and traditions have condemned the Trump administration’s new decision to separate families at the border, along with Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ remarks about why this practice is biblical. From leaders like Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention and Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, even Franklin Graham, a longtime and vocal Trump supporter, to groups like the Sikh Coalition, the Jewish Orthodox Union, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Friends Committee have all made statements condemning the approach. Here are a few statements from some of the organizations that have spoken out against the separation of families, and the policies pursued by the Trump administration.
FILE PHOTO: Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center's Annual Leadership Mission to D.C. June 13, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo
More than 600 United Methodist clergy and laypeople have signed on to a formal complaint against Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a member of the UMC, for the charges of child abuse, immorality, racial discrimination, and dissemination of doctrines contrary to the standards of doctrine of the United Methodist Church.
Children inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention facility at the Rio Grande Valley Centralized Processing Center in Texas. CBP/via REUTERS
The Trump administration on Monday defended its hardline immigration policy at the U.S.-Mexico border as criticism mounted over detained immigrant parents being separated from their children, including video of youngsters sitting in concrete-floored cages.
FILE PHOTO: Occupants at Casa Padre, an immigrant shelter for unaccompanied minors, in Brownsville, Texas. June 14, 2018. ACF/HHS/Handout via REUTERS
The government said on Friday that 1,995 children were separated from 1,940 adults at the U.S.-Mexico border between April 19 and May 31, as the Trump administration implements stricter border enforcement policies.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday doubled down on his policy of separating parents from their children upon entering the United States illegally — by quoting Scripture.
Vice President Mike Pence, projected on video screens, addresses the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting on June 13, 2018, in Dallas. RNS photo by Adelle M. Banks
Vice President Mike Pence touted President Trump’s meeting with North Korean President Kim Jong Un in a speech before Southern Baptists and urged their continuing prayers as the administration moves ahead with negotiations to seek peace on the Korean Peninsula.