[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.

[Excerpt by Joe Rubio, National Co-Director, Industrial Areas Foundation]

Lament demands a response. In John’s gospel for this Sunday, we find the passage where collectively expressed grief makes such a claim. “Jesus wept” is often cited as the shortest biblical verse, but it may also be the most poignant. The scripture recounts the story just prior to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem when he learns that his beloved friend Lazarus is ailing in Bethany.... 

Mesa faith and community leaders with Valley Interfaith Project (VIP) are pressing the City Council to complete the final step needed to open the Sunaire Hotel as transitional housing for families experiencing homelessness. Gathering outside City Hall, clergy and residents called on the council to approve the contract needed to furnish the renovated hotel so Mesa’s Off the Streets program can move into the facility — expanding a program that has already helped thousands of residents regain stability.

The project, first approved by the council in 2023, is now close to completion. But after a recent recall election brought a new councilmember onto the council, the final vote needed to furnish the building was removed from the agenda, raising questions about the timeline for opening the site. VIP leaders say they will continue organizing with faith institutions and residents to ensure the city follows through on the investment already made.

For VIP housing leaders, the path forward is clear.

“It’s the right thing to do both morally and financially,”

said Heidi Thomas, a Mesa resident and VIP housing leader, urging the council to complete the work already underway.

Advocates for Transitional Housing Project in Mesa Push for Completion, ABC15 [pdf]

Mesa Must Move Ahead with Homeless Hotel Plan, Faith Leaders Say, Arizona Republic [pdf] 

Church, Civic Leaders Urge Mesa to Spare Hotel, Mesa Tribune [pdf]

[Excerpt]

A child comes home after school in tears, asking his parents what it means to be undocumented. “Do I have documents?” he asks. They reassure him that he does. He was born in the United States.

During recess, he was playing soccer with his classmates. His team scored a goal and were celebrating when a classmate on the opposing team approached him. He told him that Donald Trump was going to come for him and his family at night to take them out of this country.

“The boy didn’t want to go back to school,” Ildefonso Magaña, a (Valley Interfaith Project leader and) union organizer for more than 20 years, told America in a Spanish-language interview. An anxious coworker shared the story with him a couple of months ago.

“Every delay means there’s folks that don’t have a place to sleep more permanently,” Valley Interfaith Project (VIP)'s Rev. Sarah Oglesby-Dunegan told Arizona’s Family.

After an old hotel was set to become transitional housing for seniors, families, and domestic violence victims, Mesa City Council took the final vote off the council agenda with no explanation why. The move pushes the decision to February, delaying the opening by about two months.