[Excerpt]

Deacon Judy Eighmy stood in front of the podium at the Phoenix City Council chambers on March 25, looked directly at council members, and cited the shortest verse in the Bible: John 11:35,“Jesus wept.”

Eighmy, a leader with the Valley Interfaith Project (VIP), was one of dozens of Arizonans who showed up that day to implore the city to do more to protect immigrants in the face of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents target Arizona grandmothers, mothers, and other longtime residents, Eighmy delivered a moving testimony, using scripture to defend immigrants from what she called the “trauma” imposed on them by ICE.

Surely Christ would weep if he saw our families being traumatized by these inhumane experiences,"

Eighmy said.

Eighmy is just one of 16,000 people across Maricopa County who are part of VIP, an interfaith coalition of about 25 member institutions that advocates for better living conditions for all Arizonans.

VIP leaders like Eighmy showed up to the Phoenix City Council hearing as city leaders considered passing the Community Transparency Initiative (CTI), a proposal to protect residents from ICE operations in Phoenix. The CTI would bar immigration officials from staging on city property, create a portal for residents to report immigration officials for civil rights violations, train all city employees on interacting with immigration officials, and create a “Know Your Rights” website…

Religious leaders with VIP worked with the city of Phoenix and with community organizations to help craft the CTI’s final language….

Now that the CTI passed, (VIP Leader Veronica) Ojeda said they are looking to work directly with local police departments. The faith leaders said they plan to meet with the Phoenix Police Department to express concerns regarding arrest operations, as individuals arrested by Phoenix P.D. are often booked in Maricopa County Jails, where ICE has space in their Intake, Transfer and Release facility and screens all booked individuals…

As the group continues its work to defend Arizona’s immigrant communities, (Pastor Rock) Fremont reiterated (that the golden rule and loving your neighbor - the immigrant, the foreigner) are not the values of one religious group or another; they’re the values of a shared religious framework, and every faith institution has a role to play in defending its neighbors.

Meet the Arizona Faith Leaders Fighting Back Against ICE, The Copper Courier [pdf]